The Ninth Class
by Cheese222
Summary: Spies, known for their skills deception and murder, are cold-blooded killers who will take any who interfere with their mission. This is the life story of one of them, and what he must go through to become or fall as one.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

The jets would be coming today, as they did every year on this exact date. It was a day most grandparents dreaded, seeing their grandchildren be taken away and never seen again. The only time when they would come back was either in a body bag or looking like one from old age. And their grandparents would be dead by then if it was the latter.

Most grandchildren, however, trained for this date their entire lives. Honing on their skills of their class so they would indefinitely get picked for it. That was the only thing some could be allowed to do, with all of the rules and such. You either work or train. If not, you'd be sent out to our Mayor, who would beat the crap out of you and leave you in the hospital for a few days to think it over.

I had never trained for my class. Never got to. Out of eight of them, none of them seemed to suit me. So I just worked all day, and became an invisible man. People knew I was there, but never acknowledged my existence. I didn't mind, being lonely left me time to think, which one of the things I did best was.

But in my childhood, now even, I had friends. We chatted sometimes, and that was the closest we got. Didn't even want to get close to them anyway to see them die when I got older. A person's death is nothing; a friend's death is everything, my grandmother used to say. I only got to know one person very well, as far as I can recall.

Six years ago, when I was working, someone came over and talked to me. Not sure why she did it, but we talked, or the equivalent of it for me. I don't even remember what it was, childish things perhaps. But she became my first real friend, and I remember her saying when she had to go, "See you later!" I had raised a hand as a goodbye.

I thought of that experience often at that age, and it was about a month later when she came back to talk to me. This time, I really tried to talk to her instead of giving the plain answers and nods I had given last time. And when she had to go, it was another, "See you later!" and she was gone. And I still didn't learn her name that day.

A year passed, and we had not talked. Finally I mustered up the courage one day and started to ask around town where she was. I finally found her on the top of the chapel's roof, a scoped rifle in her hand and shooting at rabbits awhile away. Might have been a mile, might have been a few meters away. But I climbed onto the roof as well and gave her a simple tap on the shoulder.

She jumped into the air and grabbed a deadly looking knife sitting by her side and pointed it at me. She relaxed once she saw it was only me. "Sorry about that." She said, putting the knife back. "You were so quiet, I didn't hear you."

"What're you doing?" I asked, sitting down on the roof somewhat next to her.

"Trying to hunt these rabbits. Problem is, they're heads are so tiny it's hard to get a killing shot."

"Headshot? You're trying to be a Sniper?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "My grandparents always said I had a great aim. Now watch the rabbits, the one with the white fur." She looked through her scope and aimed. Then, with a pull of the trigger, the bullet went straight into its furry little head.

"Whoa." I said, amazed.

"What's your class?" She asked.

"My class? Uh…Soldier." I lied. "Soldier." I didn't want her to think me as lame to say I hadn't trained for being any classes.

"Then that's what I'll call you." She held her hand out. "Call me Sniper."

I shook her hand. "Nice to meet you Sniper."

Ever since that moment, we had developed into good friends. Now I would lose her when the jets came. I would hear of her death. And there could be nothing I could do.

My grandfather called my name, stirring me from my memories. I went inside and found him there, a shotgun and shovel in his hands.

"Here are your supplies. You said you wanted to be a Soldier, right?" He asked, handing the weapons to me.

"Yeah." I averted my eyes from his.

"Tell me the truth."

I sighed. "I have no idea what class I'll be."

"You can't keep up an act. Sort out your class on the plane. I don't want to see you ever again. You come back here as an old man, just like me."

"I'll try."

"You _will_. Now go, everyone's waiting."

I slung the shotgun over my shoulder and gripped the shovel tightly in my hands as I exited out the door. Through the window, I took one last glance at my grandfather. We had already said our goodbyes.

One jet flew above my head, and I glanced up to watch it pass. It was greatly close to the ground, going to land on the runway a mile or so away. I started to run. I was late.

The process went out just as the others before me had gone year after year. Your name is called and you are taken into the plane, away from your families and the people of the town crowded around watching you. I found Sniper second in line and had no choice but to go last. There were eleven of us in all. Eleven more citizens being taken away.

Someone's grandmother tried to break through the crowd and rush to her grandson or daughter but a guard easily held her back as she cried and screamed, "This is inhumane! They're just teenagers! They're our children!"

The guard had to take her away before anything happened, leading her back to her house. One year, one such thing happened and it caused a riot. It destroyed half the town and five people were killed, including the grandparent that started the riot. They were burned to death by their grandchild, a Pyro. It was brave for someone, a grandmother especially, to try to stand up for the grandchild.

I glanced over at the others in line with me. You could easily tell who was who by the weapons they were carrying. The classes had three weapons each and the secondary and melee were the only ones allowed to carry on the plane to identify you. The primary weapon, the most dangerous, is given once you complete training. Snipers are given scoped rifles early to practice their aim, however.

"You! Back of the line!" Someone called out and I left my thoughts. Everyone but me was already in the plane while I was thinking. I ran up and faced the man holding a clipboard. He asked me my name and I told him. He scribbled something down and gave me a look.

"Are you going to be a Soldier?"

"Yes sir." Thought the "sir" was a nice touch to my act.

He laughed a little. "Don't you think you're a bit scrawny to be a Soldier? Never mind, nothing like nine weeks of training and a few drugs to whip you into shape, huh?" He paused for a second, as if to let me answer. When I said nothing, he continued. "Now get on the plane, we're on a tight schedule." I followed him on and saw my fellow classmates, I suppose you could call them, sitting in the seats and talking to each other.

The man went up to the front of the plane where the other guards were, waiting for the one that led the grandmother away to arrive so they could take off. I saw an empty pair of seats and started to sit when Sniper called me.

"Soldier! Come here, don't sit alone!" She said and I almost reluctantly came over. She was my friend, but I liked having time to think. And this plane ride was supposedly extremely long. I didn't want to bore her or be bored.

I took my seat just as the guard came through the doors. "Hurry up; we're going to be late." He said and quickly got in his seat. The jet started up almost immediately and moved forward.

"You nervous?" Sniper asked me.

"Damn near pissing myself." I said with half a smile.

She laughed. "Glad I'm not the only one." She showed me a jar from a backpack she brought. "Sniper's are sometimes known to piss in these. Want one?"

"Don't think I'll ever be that desperate. Ever." I said.

"There's no bathroom on this plane."

"Ever." I repeated.

"Your loss, Soldier boy." She took out her blade, a kukri I think she called it, and started to polish it.

I started to look around the plane at everyone. Across from us, I saw a Demoman, or Demowoman I suppose, with sharp pretty green eyes. I had heard that once Demomen were a very complex class, so dangerous that many lost one or both their eyes. Another rumor was that their trainers cut one of their eyes out for intimidation or if they caused trouble. This was because most Demomen that came back from battle missed their eyes. I hoped this wouldn't happen to her.

Out of all eleven of us, there were two Soldiers, one Heavy, two Pyros, one Engineer, two Medics, one Demoman, and two Snipers. I was surprised at the variety of the classes. Most wanted to be Heavies, Soldiers, or Pyros, which were mocked often at being "no-skill" classes. Engineer required knowledge of math and science and was considered boring for not being in the front lines. Demoman required knowing how to aim certain explosives, so that could be physics I suppose. Snipers required a quick hand and terrific aim. Often, no one wanted to be a Medic because it's often not a "fun" class when you have to heal the others the entire time. Scouts had to be agile and fast. One time there were entirely Pyros out of seven people.

"Hey Soldier!" Sniper called to me. I glanced over. "Look at this view!"

I had to lean in since she was sitting in the window seat. Below, the hundreds of thousands of houses below were the size of ones you see in board games. "You think you can hit the people's heads from up here?" I asked.

"I don't think I'm _that_ skilled. Or there's a scope that could do that. Besides, with all the wind the bullet would probably fly into my head instead."

I opened my mouth to respond, but someone in the seats in front of us, a Pyro, interrupted me.

"So what're you guys talkin' about?" He asked, his arms resting on the top of the seats and he was facing us.

"Who wants to know?" I challenged.

"This Medic is boring as hell. I need someone to talk to."

Though I almost had to strain to hear it, I heard the Medic say, "You can just bleed to death then."

I began to study the Pyro a little more. There was something in his eyes that made me think he was as hot-headed as the fire he would soon shoot at his enemies once he got his flamethrower. I had to be careful.

"There are plenty of other people around. Maybe you should talk to the Engineer. Aren't Pyros and Engineers supposed to be best friends?"

"Come on, I'm not going to babysit an Engineer for enemy Spies. What fun would that be? I'm going in the front lines with the Soldiers and Heavies."

"If you do that, you'll be killed in five seconds. Medics don't usually heal Pyros."

"If the Medic is smart, they'll heal one." His eyes narrowed and I could see that I had ignited a spark.

Sniper spoke up. "No need to start a fight. Just talk with the Heavy if you want."

"Nah, I think talking with you lovebirds is more fun. Already preparing to have kids early?" After you've been in the army for fifteen years, at random a man and woman are paired to have children. The children are then sent to the retired soldiers at your hometown. There was one time two childhood enemies were paired together. Another time, a man who was only into men was paired with a woman. But they were forced to be together so more little soldiers could be sent to battle.

"We're only friends." Sniper said, and I could see the anger flash in her eyes.

"Friends my ass."

Sniper got up from her seat, challenging him. He straightened himself so he could glare into her eyes. "I really don't feel like kicking someone's ass today."

"Kick _my_ ass? What a laugh!"

She snatched up her kukri and swung it and the Pyro blocked it with his axe. A few guards began to gaze at us, sensing a fight.

The Pyro looked at me, seeing that I was watching the events unfold. "What're you looking at, Soldier?" He laughed. "You really think you can be a Soldier? I bet I'm twice as strong as you'll ever be and I'm just a Pyro!"

"It's not about strength. It's about intelligence. Which you seem to be lacking if you think strength can beat me or Sniper."

The Pyro gripped his axe and got out of his seat. "You're a dead man now, buddy." With a growl, he swung the axe at me.

I grabbed my shovel and tried to block it from going into my skull. It managed to repel it, but chopped my shovel into two parts: the head and the handle. He grinned at this, as if knowing he would win. He swung the axe again. I knew from experience that to swing an axe it took the whole body due to the weight of the weapon and power. If you could dodge an attack from an axe, you could quickly sneak an attack in.

Shovel head in hand, I dodged the axe swing and slammed the side of the head into his solar plexus. He fell to his knees, out of breath and foolishly dropped the axe. I snatched it up and touched the axe head to his neck. I wasn't looking to kill this man. Not today. I dropped the axe to the ground, picked up the shovel pieces, and took my seat again.

The Pyro sat down at his, glaring at me. Sniper gave me a thumbs up and I half smiled back. The guards I could see were giving me looks, their feelings professionally hidden so I could not tell.

"We are now one-seventh to our destination." The pilot announced and the other classmates groaned. This was going to be a long ride after all.

The ground was getting closer to us and the classmates looked out of the windows expectantly. With hundreds of other jets, we were landing in an airfield next to an extremely large army base which I suspected to be our home and training base for the next nine weeks or so. There were so many other classmates, so many other children forced into battle and taken from their families never to see them again.

They were all walking in straight lines followed by a man or woman holding a clipboard and guards walking behind. The jet squeaked to a quick stop and the clipboard holding man in charge of us stood up.

"Alright, you've seen the others. You follow me to the training room and you start training immediately. You're G section if you ever get confused." He opened the exit door and left.

"Hate to be C section." The Engineer joked and a few of us chuckled.

"Everyone out!" One of the guards ordered and we started to exit out. I could see the Pyro purposely be in the back of the line, either to be away from us or to talk to the female Pyro. Probably both.

When we exited, I saw most of the classmates chatting as they walked. The adults, however, seemed to never speak a word unless perfectly necessary. Guess the fun faded out of the job for them. Might as well embrace it while we still could.

We approached the army base and I could finally see the letters symbolizing out sections. Surprisingly, it started from Z to A so we had to walk quite a distance to get to our section. Maybe it was to confuse an enemy if they came here, though it would only be a useless second. The sections were two rooms, which we were told were bunks on one side, training rooms on the other. The bunks were divided on two sides for the boys and girls. Shame I had made an enemy. Now we had to sleep in the same room. Better be cautious.

Without getting a chance to rest from the seven hour flight, we were forced into the training room. The room was huge, enough running space for at least 25 of us. The clipboard holding man said a few words to a guard and handed him the clipboard before leaving us. This guard seemed to be the largest of the bunch, packed with muscle and a stern attitude. It wasn't difficult to guess he would be our trainer.

He motioned to another guard, who went over to a control panel on the wall. His hands moved so fast we couldn't see the password he punched in, and for good reason. The wall flipped over and revealed a wall of primary weapons. Our eyes immediately gazed over to our individual ones, ones we had been looking forward to see all of our lives. Sniper's old rifle was just a mediocre one; this one looked like even a shot in the arm would take you out.

"Alright soldiers!" Our trainer barked. "Grab your individual weapons! And don't get any smart ideas!" He said this glaring at me and the male Pyro.

The classmates rushed over to the table, nearly drooling to see these weapons. Well polished and packed with enough power to kill someone in one hit. I first walked over to the rocket launchers for my Soldier class, but then another weapon caught my eye. Lying almost hidden in a midst of sniper rifles was a revolver.

I picked it up carefully and examined it. Fully loaded and beautiful looking. It almost felt right in my hands. I looked over to a target and aimed the revolver at its head.

"You! Where did you get that?" Our trainer barked at me, startling me enough to make me almost drop the revolver.

"I found it on the table. Near the sniper rifles."

"Sniper rifles? You're a Soldier, private! Why are you looking near the rifles?"

"It just…caught my eye is all."

"Pick up a damn rocket launcher!"

I quickly put down the revolver and snatched up the launcher. Or, at least, tried to. It was heavy as hell and could barely hold it with both hands. And it wasn't even loaded. The other Soldier gave me a look.

"Hey, man, you okay?" He asked.

I nodded and tried to lift it to my shoulder. It fell back to the table so I had to try again and managed to hold it there, though it killed my posture to do so. I could see the other Soldier holding his launcher in one hand, a couple of rockets in the other. I managed to pick up two rockets as well. Our trainer was giving me a very disapproving look.

"Alright then, let's get to training! We'll do this in order! Since we have no Scouts, we'll go right to the Soldiers!"

"Shit." I muttered and the other Soldier heard this, giving me the same suspicious look.

"You! Fancy-pants, come here!" He pointed at me.

He probably called me that because I had chosen to wear my best clothes here. Some hated wearing dress clothes, but they were almost comfortable. And it looks like I had only got a nickname for it, and a bad one at that. And I was going first. Great.

"Fire the launcher, Soldier!" He barked at me, stirring me from my thoughts. He had already told me how to fire the weapon and I hadn't paid attention. I tried to guess, but the trainer came over and gave me a very long explanation of how to fire it.

"Listen up next time, maggot!" He said. "Now fire!"

Without even aiming at the cardboard cutout that was my target, I hastily fired the weapon and nearly flew away doing so. My arm nearly snapped from the immense recoil and I had to place the launcher on the ground and had to make sure the bone was still in its socket. The rocket itself flew extremely right and almost hit a guard. He backed away a few steps after this.

"Fire again!" The trainer ordered.

"But-"

"No buts! Fire!"

I almost heard the Pyro smirk at this. I reluctantly lifted the launcher and fired again. This was worse than the last, and the whole class cringed at the crack my arm made. The rocket, purely by luck, hit the target. Cardboard pieces of it flew everywhere.

"Next! Camo! Your turn!"

Another bad nickname. The other Soldier was a born-and-raised Soldier, probably preparing for this his entire life. He was already wearing a camouflage uniform, probably his grandfather's. He loaded the launcher, already remembering what the trainer had told me.

"Fire!"

The rocket flew perfectly into the already set up target.

"Good! Fire again!"

This time two targets were up and he shot between them to destroy both.

The trainer nodded. "Good job Soldiers! Next, the Pyros!"

The Pyros were taught the basics of doing their job. Since the flamethrower was close range to medium range at best, they had to be quick when being on the offense or try to find routes different than their allies to sneak up and catch their enemies from surprise. Since our enemies copied our tactics, or vice versa, Pyros could also extinguish allies or repel enemies by shooting a burst of air at them. Also by something that had developed into a tactic called "Spy checking" enemy Spies that try to find out our secrets or destroy an Engineer's defense to leave us weak are easy to find by firing puffs of flame that if it touches a Spy's invisible cloak will reveal them. They were taught each one of these, and one of the guards volunteered to show them a Spy's cloak by using a stolen invisibility watch.

It took them five whole minutes together to find the cloaked guard with their flamethrowers, which the trainer called when, "The Spy would have sapped the Engineer's technology, taken our intelligence, and stabbed both of you in the back!"

Our female Demoman went next. Before they go into training, Demomen were only allowed a sword as a melee weapon and a shield to use as charging if they wished and were nicknamed "Demoknights". They could be that or a regular Demoman with their melee weapon as a bottle of alcoholic "Scrumpy", not necessarily always empty, and their primary and secondary weapons given to them once they were in training because they were extremely dangerous. They were given simulations as children in hope to train them.

Our Demoman chose the "normal" approach with the grenade and sticky bomb launcher. When she was given her targets and ordered to fire, she shot it with almost expert easiness and destroyed nine targets at once with both weapons. Our trainer seemed impressed.

The Engineer was given no training except to read the schematics for his four machines he would need to build and was left alone to read. The Engineer was given the shotgun, pistol, and wrench as soon as they wanted to train to become one. Their Sentry Guns were the true dangerous weapons.

So our Heavy went after our Demoman. Like most Heavies, this man was packed with muscle from head to toe. So much, in fact, that he could lug his 250 kilogram minigun easily with both hands. As soon as he got bigger and more experienced, it was said Heavies could lift it with the weapon with one hand. He was taught how to rev up the minigun and ripped the targets into shreds with the minigun. But one of the most important elements of being a Heavy was the famous Heavy and Medic pair.

Both Medics were also chosen to practice their timing with their Mediguns and also told tips, the only thing you could do, with tactics. How not to heal the same target unless giving an Übercharge, not heal only the Heavy, and heal allies on fire when Pyros or Snipers weren't around to extinguish the flame.

Lastly were the Snipers. The whole group was taken outside to see the Snipers shoot their rifles. The sniper rifles were interesting because the shot grew more powerful the longer you were zoomed in with the target. So if an enemy was wearing a helmet or bullet proof vest, the bullet could have enough power to blast through the protection and kill the target easily. There were once bows and arrows as well for the Snipers, but this made so little sense for Snipers to have that they were taken away.

"Alright everyone!" Our trainer barked. "We'll be doing melee weapons tomorrow! Get a night's rest; you'll be waking up bright and early!" The classmates groaned at this but left the training room to go to sleep.

I gave a farewell wave at Sniper once I went into the male dorm, found an individual bunk, and soon fell asleep. We all didn't want to cause trouble or else we would be exhausted and without energy tomorrow. I could only hope that this Soldier business would get easier.

"Fancy-pants! C'mere!" I heard Greene, our trainer, say. I was in the middle of shooting targets with my secondary weapon, my shotgun. Most of my shots hit the target's chest, the largest section, while Camo, who've I been referring to due to my lack of creativity, kept getting headshots or other almost immediate kill shots.

I was almost happy to hear this. It was a few days after the first day of training, and the only somewhat good day had been with the melee weapons, but Camo was still more experienced with the shovel than I was. Even when I tried a pickaxe, another Soldier melee weapon, the simulated enemy in the training room still knocked the weapon out of my hand. The problem was that close combat wasn't my style of fighting. Escaping and catching them by surprise would be much easier and more efficient than this.

"Yes sir?" I asked Greene, walking over to him.

"Follow me. Commander Seinfeld wants to see you personally." He was talking quieter than usually. Then his voice rose when he turned to the others, "The rest of you keep training! Don't kill each other yet! I won't be long!" Note he said "I" not "we" won't be long.

Sniper gave me an almost worried glance and all I could do was walk forward, not even giving a reassuring look. Why the Commander, of all people, would want to see me was beyond me. It couldn't be between the Pyro and me else it would be both of us being called over. And Greene had said personally. I could only hope for the best.

"Is this Commander…the commander of the whole base?" I asked.

Greene laughed. "No, not at all. I haven't even met the High Commander." High Commander sounded stupid to me. It was something you heard in a science fiction novel about aliens. "This Minor Commander Seinfeld, Commander of Order."

"Order? What kind of order? Political, military, etc.?"

"You'll see."

Of course. We walked the rest of the way in silence, having nothing else to say to the other. It would hopefully be cleared up by Seinfeld. The Commander was in the largest building of the base, obviously, on the east wing on the second floor. I passed by a lot of people on the way, mostly guards, all with different but similar angry looks.

Seinfeld was a woman, not really good in the looks or muscles department, but very much so in intelligence. You could tell this by one look at her. I suppose she had to be like this in order to earn her position, no pun intended. She was busy at work when we found her.

"Commander! The Soldier from G section is here!" Greene hadn't even bothered to learn my name.

"Thank you. You are dismissed." Greene nodded and exited the room. She glanced at me, as if examining me for a few seconds. I glanced around the room a bit, trying to seem as if I was being uncomfortable so she would stop.

"Tell me." She said, finally stopping. "Why did you choose to be a Soldier? Thought it would be easy? Thought it would take 'no-skill'? It's not as easy as it looks, isn't that right?"

I didn't like her attitude. It was making her seem as if she was the smartest person in the world, an almost arrogant attitude. So I decided to give her attitude as well. "You certainly don't look like one yourself."

"Neither do you. You know about the Soldier class as much as I do. I'm not a Soldier, so why are you?"

She was good. Bet she had a whole speech assembled beforehand, though. "Just say what you have to say and let me get back to my training."

"Fair enough. I have already seen you failing at this class. No, your skills with the rocket launcher, shotgun, and shovel are below failing. All you have is luck."

"Thanks for sugar-coating it."

"So I'd like to make a proposal. Convince you to change your class to a much more…interesting one."

"What would that be? A Medic?"

"No, but somewhere in that area. A support class."

"Sniper?"

"No. Now let me explain something to you. You are not quick like a Scout. We already know about the Soldier problems. You are not headstrong like a Pyro. Not good with physics like a Demoman. Not intelligent like an Engineer. Not strong like a Heavy. Not caring like a Medic. Not a long range fighter like a Sniper. Three offensive classes, three defensive classes, two support classes and you can't do neither. By now we have to go into desperate measures. We have either two solutions. Choose another class, or disappear."

"Is there a third option?"

"Actually, yes. Both choosing another class and disappearing."

"There are no other classes. We both know that."

"No, _you_ know that. Think about it. Three offensive classes. Three defensive classes. Why only two support classes?"

"You mean another class."

"Glad you're smart enough to figure that out. Now, you've heard about Pyros. Who are Pyros main targets?"

I thought for a second. "You mean the Spy…is the other class?"

"Exactly. We've had Spies forever. And Spies to fight the other Spies. It's an endless battle. Spies taking other Spy's Intel. But they have to be secret. Disappear and never seen again so the enemy won't think otherwise."

"We're already never seen again from our families. It won't make a difference."

"It will. Spies are everywhere and everyone. Disguising as our allies. Hiding in the darkness. You can't trust anyone. They disguise as friends, family, even enemies. They know everything and will do anything to obtain it."

"Sounds like fun."

"Exactly. We think you should be one."

I had to think again. Disappearing forever. That would mean never seeing Sniper again. "Will I at least get to say goodbye?"

"No. There's a chance Spies might be around. We can't let them know."

"How do I know they aren't in this room?"

"Because this is the second most secure room in the building. We have thermal cameras all around the room. Pyros to clean them out on the spot. And soundproof walls."

"How do you know I'm not one?"

She had to think about this one. Then smiled. "I think you'll be perfect for this job."

"Do I get any cool gadgets?"

"Of course. But you must rely entirely on being secret and inconspicuous. These gadgets will help and hurt your detection." As if knowing I'd accept, she already had the gadgets at hand. She handed me the first thing, what appeared to be a radio, off a table next to her. "This is a Sapper. Destroys any and all technology. Engineer buildings. Cameras. Just make sure you're not caught planting them."

She got out a cigarette case and handed it to me. "Don't you think I'm too young to be smoking?"

"Not for some of your disguises, no matter what the cost is, remember? But that's not all it is." She grabbed the case and opened one side of it. Inside was a screen with different buttons and such on it.

"Fancy." I commented.

"Use these to obtain your disguises. The cigarettes on this side scan the target and when you flick the lighter it saves it. You can keep nine running disguises at once. It was originally used for all nine classes. Now lastly and most importantly," She grabbed one last thing from the table, a watch. "The Invisibility Watch, or Invis watch, some call it."

She put on the watch. "Now with one press of the button," She suddenly disappeared. "You turn invisible. Not forever, however." She pressed the button again and reappeared. "Long enough to stay hidden, however. We have two watches at hand for different situations.

"The regular Invis watch renders you invisible as long as you remain slow and steady and blend in with the shadows. But this one does recharge. Stay perfectly still and you'll remain invisible and charge forever. The other is the Dead Ringer." She picked up this one, which looked like an old fashioned brass watch. "Doesn't provide you with invisibility unless…well, let me show you."

She took off the Invis watch and put on the Dead Ringer. She handed me a revolver as well. "Now shoot me. Headshot I'd prefer." She seemed to know what she was doing, so I pointed it at her head and squeezed the trigger. Her body fell to the ground.

"Holy-" I nudged her body with my foot. Did it work? I suddenly felt cold steel against the back of my neck.

"That's when a Spy would return the favor." She pulled the knife away from my neck and took off the watch, placing both on the table. "And other classes don't have Dead Ringers either, thankfully. It's fun to mess with them."

"How would you know?"

"Because I'm one myself." She said with a smile. "Or once was, to be correct. Now I just recruit them. Give proper order to the playing field. Now, I forgot two also important gadgets. The revolver," She nodded at the one in my hand. "And the butterfly knife." She picked it back up and expertly showed me how to open and close it. "Easy to open with one hand so you can sap a machine and kill its owner easily. Very nice…gadgets. Have I convinced you enough?"

"I'm afraid so. Besides, better to be useful and unknown than dead weight and known."

"Amen to that. Now, you will have to disappear tomorrow. Today we'll show you how to use your gadgets. Remember everything we show you. Accept in your mind that you'll never be seen again. Now let's start out with the revolver."


	2. Chapter 2

Note: Thanks to Lanny-Sama for your review! It really helped me figure out my character and helped me write this next chapter. Hope you like it!

Chapter two

My body was found outside, halfway to the training room and a butterfly knife buried in my back. It looked like I was in a crawling position, blood streaking behind it. A quick funeral was assembled, and my group from G section said their goodbyes, though we barely knew each other. But everyone at least seemed sympathetic, even the Pyro. Sniper didn't cry, but swore she'd try to rue my death. And while I watched this in the shadows, I picked up my few supplies and ran.

.-.

"Name?"

"Goodrich. Fredrick Goodrich." A fake name. A disguise. My first of many hopefully, Seinfeld had told me. The real Goodrich had been quickly dispatched of and his body thrown off the train I was on. The train was heading toward an enemy base, carrying new recruits as we had with our jets.

Most enemies were foreign, but they'd been known to convince some of our civilizations that they were the correct side to choose in this battle. Their bases, being in the same country as ours, was more dangerous than our foreign ones but had to be ignored to focus on the main target. Spies like me were sent here to hopefully break in, take their Intel, and kill any who got in our way. Don't suppose that changed their decision that we were the right side.

"New recruit, right? You a Pyro?"

"Absolutely. There's gotta be the few of us that send those damn Spies back to Hell."

"Amen to that. Hurry to S section for training."

"Aye-aye." I came out of the train and looked around. A guard was watching me as soon as I exited, so I couldn't hurry and disappear behind the shadows of a building. I started walking towards the G section alone, surprisingly. Unlike us, there were no clipboard-wielding people running around to give order. So this was mayhem, kids running every which way trying to find which building was which. Perfect.

When a whole mass of confused kids passed by, I blended in and managed to sneak behind a building nearby the base. Where I had been just yesterday being briefed about my role as a Spy. I wondered for a second if a Spy that had broken into our base had done the same thing. "It's an endless battle. Spies taking another Spy's Intel." I remember Seinfeld saying.

Might as well get the job done. I snuck close to the building using my Invis watch, stopping in certain places of light to charge it and make sure I was not seen. As soon I was right near the door I waited for someone to exit out. The first person I saw exit walked right by me. Perfect. After quickly saving him as my new disguise, I grabbed the man, holding my invisible hand over his mouth and pulled him into the shadows. To the normal eye, it would only appear as if he tripped.

I smacked him on the side of the head with my revolver hard enough to knock him out, but hopefully not give him a concussion. They would then know there was a Spy around. I flicked open the cigarette case hidden in my jacket and activated my second disguise. In just a few seconds, I looked exactly like the man, no, I _was_ him. His face, his clothes, everything. I walked out of the shadows and entered the base.

When I was being briefed, I hadn't been told where our Intel was hiding, or even an idea of it. The structures of the different bases were all almost exactly alike it seemed, but I wasn't told how that was set up to know which room was which. I suppose that was a little too much paranoia on their part, but I suppose with good reason. I would have to find it out for myself, even if it took days. All I could do was work and hope I could find the Intel before they saw through my disguise; or disguises to be accurate.

All I could do was start with the first room. I went into the first room on my right which was thankfully empty. There seemed to be no cameras either. It was almost like the first level of a game, easy, than gets harder as you go. Yet this was too suspicious. There had to be hidden cameras or something like that. I took a quick glance at the room and left, as if my disguise had just found the wrong room.

It just seemed to be an empty conference room, a screen near the head chair to the back. Two light switches for one room. One light above, six others on the sides of the room. An empty trash can. A pretty average conference room. But not useless to note. Might be useful or useless. Just check the next room.

The one on the left, to make it easier. Just a quick check. This appeared to be a break room. A soda dispenser, coffee dispenser, and a screen showing the news and weather. This time, however, there was a person inside the room, a man.

He saw me and greeted. "Danny! What're you doing back here? Thought you were getting a break?"

I tried to make this casual and unsuspicious as I could. "Nah, I just want to check the weather real quick. I should make sure if I should wear a coat or not tomorrow."

"Don't you have a screen at home?"

I was glad I had the ability to think fast. "You really think I'd want to go home, turn the damn thing on, and wait ten minutes until the news lady shut up so I could actually listen to it? No, I'd rather sit here and get a free bottle of water and watch it here." As I said this, I punched in the water's number in the soda dispenser and caught it in my hand.

The man smiled. "You would do something like that, wouldn't you? Alright, _I _gotta go work, see ya!"

"See ya!" I called. Now I could get a good look at the room in peace. Again, no cameras. Levels were getting a bit harder as the obstacles began to detect me a little more. One light switch, one light. A table with a few magazines on it. Now this should be the last room of the day. Can't let another person see me.

But one last thing to take care of. I actually did wait for the weather to come on in case of hidden cameras and drank my water until it was gone. The bottle went into the trash. Now to see how Fredrick Goodrich was doing.

.-.

I checked inside S section's building and found it to be empty and its lights off. No guards to be seen, no recruits, nothing. I silently swore and looked around the building. The group wasn't outside with the snipers of the group so there had to be only one explanation: the recruits had already undergone training and were now sleeping. I was too late for training for Goodrich. If they weren't suspicious of me before, no doubt they would be now.

Now I had to make up my mind-disappear or try to find the leader of the S section and say that I was "lost". Either one would raise suspicion. Disappearing would make them hunt down for me, saying I had lost my way would make them watch me more carefully. And if they kept an eye on me, I would have no chance of sneaking away. A "bathroom break" was a weak excuse.

There was no choice then. I would have to dis-

"Who's there?" I suddenly heard not too far away from me. A humanoid shadow was looking directly at me. Shit.

Adrenaline from being scared clogged up my mind and I stupidly dashed into the training room. The guard would have seen that. He would find me and I would have failed my mission and my life. I had to hide somewhere. I ran into the shadows and leaned against a wall, hoping he couldn't see me. The invisibility watch would have to be a last resort if I had to run. The door creaked open and the guard entered.

"If you're a friendly, come out now! You'll only be questioned!" He said, looking around. "If not," he grabbed his shotgun from his back and readied it. "You can run but you can't hide."

I resorted my breathing to small puffs that I could barely hear and tried to remain perfectly still, both which took all of my willpower with the adrenaline running through my veins. The guard suddenly took a flashlight out of his pocket and began to look around with that as well, the shotgun in his other hand. It was like a deadly game of hide and seek. All I could hope was that I wouldn't be found.

The guard stopped moving for a second and closed his eyes. I stared at him for a second, almost letting my guard down and my breathing back to normal, before realizing what he was doing. He was trying to hear my breathing. I froze and stupidly held my breath. Now I would have to gain my breath when I couldn't hold it anymore and the change in sounds would immediately catch his attention if he was focused enough.

I had to quickly think of a plan before he found me. I still had the element of surprise at my hand and could easily kill him. The butterfly knife and revolver I had weren't just toys. But the revolver, surprisingly, wasn't silenced. I had to use the knife. All I had to do was sneak up behind him, not making a sound, and stab him in his spinal cord. It would either kill him or paralyze him. Either way, I could obtain a disguise and dispose of the body.

My lungs were almost screaming for air now. I needed to move before my willpower was drained entirely. I quietly flicked open my knife and approached him, glad that he was standing still and his back was turned to me. It was perfect. I raised the knife and started to plunge down when the shotgun's butt suddenly came my way.

I cried out and the knife fell out of my hand. While I was still trying to gain my balance, his foot landed exactly in my solar plexus and I fell to the ground, out of breath and helpless. He aimed the shotgun at my head and fired. The floor was sprayed with blood.

The guard nudged the body and smiled, satisfied with his kill. Just as he was exiting the room, there was a strange noise, almost like electricity or something like it. He started to glance backwards when my hand covered his mouth and stabbed him in the neck with my knife. The perfect place to stab, unprotected and cutting off the brain's connection to the heart and lungs. An almost immediate death.

I was the one to smile this time. I glanced at the two watches on my arm and patted the Dead Ringer lovingly. Not bad for a little gadget.

Now to get to work before anyone sees what happened. I gained him as a disguise and took his body outside, throwing it behind the darkness of the building and covered with plants. It would be easy to find, but a place hopefully people never visited. The undisturbed appearance of the plants and ground indicated this. Just as I was returning back, I disguised as the guard. And just in time. Another guard had spotted the events from his scoped rifle, indicated from the one on his back.

"What happened?" He asked. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I said. "But _he _isn't." I opened the training room's door and showed him my body.

The guard seemed surprised. Obviously a rookie if he didn't know how to mask his emotions. "How did you do that?"

"Every living thing breathes. All you have to do is listen for it."

"I'll take that into consideration. See you later."

I was suddenly reminded of Sniper's "See you later" and froze for a second.

The guard noticed this. "You okay?"

I shook it off. "Yeah, just thinking if the bastard had actually killed me. But anyway, see you later." I said and walked the other direction, my disguise seeming to patrol the area. I had to not think of Sniper or anyone else I knew. Couldn't let it interfere with my work. And it was only the first day.

.-.

My disguise had patrolled the area the entire night, and I was already tired from lack of sleep on the train, which took about a day to get here, being much slower than our jets. I was thinking too much and barely got an hour of sleep. Thinking, I suppose, is sometimes a bad thing. I kept leaning against buildings as I patrolled and the bricks almost felt like pillows to me in my sleepy drunkenness.

As soon as the sun poked overhead and I saw the other guards starting to walk somewhere, I followed them, hoping it was time for a change of shifts. I also saw the guard with the rifle from last night, so I followed him specifically. This guard disguise I had obtained would have to be who I was for awhile. I had already lost Goodrich's chance of being my disguise, taking so much time looking around the base.

But now they would be suspicious. My disguise had already signed in and then was gone. Even the most oblivious person would be at least somewhat wary. But my new guard disguise had "killed" me. The body was there to prove it. And the coincidence of it being in S section could easily connect the dots. So the Goodrich disguise was useless and I was safe for now.

A very important detail suddenly popped into my head. When I had "died", I had taken my gadgets with me. People knew that every Spy carried around a disguising kit, knife, revolver, and invisible watch. They would search the body for these items to see the other disguises the Spy would have used. And without weapons on the body to look at, their suspicion would be raised again and directly at my guard disguise. This Spy business was tougher than I thought.

I needed to find the Intel before they sought me out. Tonight I would have to go up another floor, even if it was skipping some rooms and possibly important pieces of evidence. On the second floor, the paranoia was higher but there was more of a chance to get a disguise that would have higher authority of the building. Then no doubt I could find the Intel.

But it was only early in the morning and that was tonight. Luckily my guard worked the night shift so I could spy and then go outside to patrol when I was finished before any suspicion was raised. I followed the other guards into a room much like the dorm rooms for the recruits. And that was exactly was it was, except the guards slept here until the shifts cycled.

I picked an empty bunk and practically fell asleep just as my head hit the pillow, not even bothering to put the blanket over my body though it was freezing.

.-.

I woke up early, though in a literal sense it was just before the time when the sun traded places when the moon and became night. Just in time. I needed to sneak off and look around the base before my disguise needed to patrol the area. And none of the other guards were awake either.

Slowly getting off my bunk to not even make a noise, I exited the dorm room. I was just about to round the corner of the building to hide in the darkness to activate my cloaking when someone startled me.

"Awake early, Brown?" I looked to see the voice's owner, another guard perhaps part of the day patrol, leaning against the dorm room wall and smoking a cigarette. "Just in time too. I need to bring you to the base for questioning."

"Questioning? Why?" My heartbeat started to pick up. A pang of fear.

"Last night's events. That Spy that broke in, right? We want to make sure we get the right stuff filed down or something. I wasn't really listening." She took one last draw of the cigarette before casually tossing it on the ground and smothering the fire with her foot. "Might as well get on it, right?" She said, sticking a thumb to the base's direction.

"Yeah, I guess." She started off and I followed her, though keeping my distance.

"Just remember," The guard said. "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." She looked at my face to read it. "Right?"

"Then I have nothing to fear." I said with a weak attempt at a smile.

"Great. Then this questioning should be quick and painless. Then _I_ can finally get some damn rest."

She was being too casual with me. Acting like she didn't care so I could let my guard down so she could really read my emotions. She was in on the questioning. No doubt they had sent a woman to weaken my guard even more. Overconfidence can weaken any man. I had to be careful and act like the guard I was disguised as, making sure to mask my emotions behind a blank gaze. It wasn't difficult to do since I had been emotionless most of the time when I was alone working back home. Never needed to show any.

I almost missed those boring days. Nothing but you and quietness all around. Enough time to, when I was a child, imagine stories or quests in my own imaginary world. And enough time now to just have the whole world to myself. A lazy day. Now it was constant heart beating fear around any corner. Worrying about every single detail and mistake you did. But I was in the middle of danger. Without all that thinking I had done early in life, I would no doubt be dead now.

I escaped my thoughts just in time. The guard had just opened the door and was entering through it. I quickened my pace and managed to get through before it could close behind me. Back in the base again. Might as well look around while I still can. It wouldn't hurt to try to look for the Intel while I have a chance. I kept my eyes focused ahead of me, checking out the rooms out of the corners of my eyes to try to not be suspicious.

Mostly the first floor was just conference rooms, a few break rooms, tables where one could eat, a few bathrooms. Nothing important. This made it easier than checking every single room for days on end. Perhaps this questioning was actually a good thing. Perhaps they'll just see right through my disguise and kill me on the spot. Depends on how much luck I have.

Funny, I had never believed in luck before. And now it was all I could rely on, the only thing that held my string of life in place. Whether it would be cut or not was all luck. It was the impossible chance that kept me from running away and hiding. I had to believe in it, or surely I would have quit or died by now. I could only hope the luck was in my favor.

A staircase and to the second floor. I immediately saw a camera on my right staring directly at me as soon as I entered the hallway. I was surprised it wasn't hidden. Or maybe it was just a distraction from the real cameras. I had to actually navigate around it, its lens following me and the guard the entire time we were in its "vision". A thermal camera, perhaps?

"I swear we've complained to the establishment a hundred times to move that damn thing. Anyone walking by it has to walk around it, even our skinniest guys." She wasn't smart for revealing that fact to me. This nifty detail thus proved my point, but perhaps she expected that. Maybe it was a warning. Maybe it was a slip of the mind. I hated being ignorant of evidence.

The rooms on this floor were more official, showing offices and cubes of people busily working at computers, their giant screens showing graphs and people they were talking to on headsets. I remembered the Commander being on the second floor as well, east wing. But it appeared we were going to the west instead.

The guard guided me easily, seeming to remember the route exactly. She wasn't hesitant when we reached two paths to go or manage to even think about it. Now I was certain she was in on the interrogation. But she suddenly stopped and turned to me.

"This is where I leave. Second door on your right. Good luck." The casual tone was entirely gone from her voice. She didn't even bother to hide it. Then, without another word, she was gone.

I mentally shrugged and followed the directions. If I disappeared now I could be easily captured. The massive thermal cameras or whatever they were watched me at this moment, eagerly gazing at me with their lenses. If I even disappeared and slipped away, people watching the cameras would detect the slight change almost instantly.

Might as well get this interrogation over with. I opened the door and entered. The room was pitch black and my eyes only got a second to adjust before a bright light shined in them. I had to shield my face to make sure I wasn't blinded.

"Don't cover your face, Brown. We want to see it. Make sure it's really you." A woman's voice emanated from the shadows.

I slowly lowered my arm from my face, still squinting in the light. "Would you mind turning the light down? I can't see anything."

"That's the point. We can see you, but you can't see us. You don't need to anyway. You're just a guard that got into a mishap with an enemy Spy, is that correct?"

"Yeah. Last night."

"I didn't ask you the time, Brown. And don't talk to me with a 'yeah'. My questions will be yes or no questions. Easy enough for you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Now, first question. What is your name?"

My heart skipped a beat. I hadn't even taken the time to find out my first name. But I could play it smart-ass and see if it worked. "I thought you said yes or no questions."

"My apologies. Is your name Gregory Brown?"

Great. A fifty/fifty chance of getting caught and this was only the first question, a simple one at that. I could only guess. "No, ma'am."

"Mm hmm." She said, and I could hear the scribbling down of a pen. I didn't even know if that was the correct answer or not. She meant to do this. "Is your name Samuel Brown?"

I made sure to keep a straight face so she couldn't see I was struggling mentally with these guesses. "No, ma'am."

"Mm hmm." She said again. Another scribble. "Is your name Ethan Brown?"

"Yes, ma'am." I could only pray this was the right answer.

"Mm hmm. Next question, last night you were patrolling the premises along the new recruit's sections. Is this correct?"

"Yes, ma'am." At least this was an easy question.

"You were around Q section when you saw a silhouette. Is this correct?"

I had to think for a second. It was true that the guard was around two sections away when I first saw him. But the sections, like the ones I had at my base, were in backwards alphabetic order. The guard was walking down them from Z to A. I now understood why they were in this order. To confuse the Spy so he would mess up and be taken away. A guard would probably know the order by heart. "No ma'am."

"You were around U section when you saw a silhouette. Is this correct?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And you followed the silhouette. Is this correct?"

"Yes, ma'am. Into the training room."

"I didn't ask you where you followed him, Brown."

"Apologies, ma'am."

"Don't be sorry."

"Yes, ma'am."

"You followed the silhouette into the training room, is this correct?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And you yelled out, 'Who's there?' out to the silhouette. Is this correct?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now answer me this. Be aware that this is not a yes or no question. What occurred in that training room that left you, unharmed, outside?"

"I followed him inside and found him, gone. It was as if he had turned invisible, no doubt he did. So I thought, 'Everything breathes, doesn't it?' and-"

"Which you relayed to Gage when you explained the incident to him, is that correct?"

I had a feeling that this was a trick question. "No ma'am."

"Which you relayed to Mason when you explained the incident to him, is that correct?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Mm hmm. Continue."

"And I stopped in place and tried to listen for his breathing. I also knew that this would tempt him to try to sneak up on me and kill me. It took awhile for him to finally try to kill me, but I heard him sneaking up behind me. He had taken in a big breath of air, as if bracing himself, to stab me in the back. But I knocked the knife out of his hand with the butt of my gun, knocked him to the ground, and blew his brains out all over the floor."

"Note I am switching back to yes and no questions. Did you take any weapons or gadgets off the body of this man?"

So they did notice my little mistake. "No, ma'am."

"Did you see anyone enter the training room after you had exited?"

"No, ma'am."

"Last question. And this is not a yes or no question, as this should be easy for you. What is your mother's first name?"

Shit. After all of this she had to lay down a question like that. Of course she had purposely done this just to trick me, just as my guard was let down. What could be done about it? I could only make a guess out of the hundreds, no, thousands of feminine names out there. I was doomed.

"Brown, I shall repeat the question. What is your mother's first name?"

I opened my mouth to speak when a brilliant thought came into my head. What was _my_ mother's first name? I had not the slightest clue. I knew my grandmother and grandfathers since they called each other by theirs, but not my mother or my father's. The question was meant to worry me so I would slip up.

"I don't know, ma'am."

"Are you sure about that?"

Perhaps you _were_ told your mother's first name in the future. Brown was an easy twenty years older than I was, perhaps more. But they would have caught me at Brown's name already. I had nothing to lose.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Mm hmm. You are free to leave."

"Yes, ma'am."

The lights, still bright in my eyes, were turned off. The room was dark again. I had to navigate by touch and memory to the door handle. Just as the door closed behind me, I almost let out a sigh of relief when I bumped into the faces of two gas masks. Pyros.

"Hhllo." One of them said behind an almost mocking friendly tone. Their speech was muffled by the gas masks on their faces, but this voice was feminine.

"Yyhor chhmihng whht uhhs." The other one said. This voice was masculine.

Though this was a serious situation, I honestly didn't understand them. "What was that?"

The Pyro sighed. "Yyhor." He pointed at me. "Chhmihng." He make a walking motion with his gloved fingers. "Whht." He pointed to all three of us. "Uhhs." He pointed to him and the other Pyro.

I nodded in understanding. The female Pyro leveled her flamethrower at my chest. "Nnhw mhhhve." Now move.

I followed the male Pyro and the other was behind me, her flamethrower ready to burn me alive if I made any sudden movements.

"Rhhhse yyhor hhanhds! Whhe whhnt to seeh thehm!" The male Pyro said at me. I roughly translated that and raised my hands in the air above my head.

We silently walked out of the building, passing by the many faces of working people with glares on their faces. If I had discovered a Spy in my base, no doubt I would have reacted the same way. The visible cameras even seemed to glare as I walked by them. When we had finally exited, it was around the time Brown would have patrolled the area. But that didn't matter now. My cover was blown and I had been caught.

I was led far north of the base, north of even the sections where the recruits were probably sleeping right now. A dark building with an ominous aura to it. A fifteen foot fence. A prison. My feet, when I first saw it, suddenly didn't want to move anymore. I didn't want to enter this building. It was a place of misery and death.

"Mhhve iht!" The female Pyro behind me said, poking my back with the gas nozzle of her flamethrower. I reluctantly moved forward.

We entered the prison into a room almost like a waiting room. A person sitting behind a desk and a screen of glass, likely bulletproof, glanced up a bit from their computer. A gated door was next to them, and multiple cameras were around gazing at all three of us.

"Business?" They asked monotonically into a microphone.

The male Pyro approached them and raised his mask off a little so he could be heard. "Number 16-8-009." I was intended not to know what this meant.

"Confirmed. Cell number 104, block D." The gated door squeaked open.

"Khhehp mhhvhng." The male Pyro said, adjusting his gasmask.

The other cells were silent as we walked past them. Some prisoners watched us out of a narrow opening to push a food tray in or out. No doubt they were wondering why a guard was being taken into a cell. But then again, they had probably seen Spies before.

After awhile, I just looked at the ground to avoid their stares and hide my shame from the Pyros' eyes. If only I had been more careful or kept with one disguise or _something_ to erase my past mistakes are replace them with good decisions. But this wasn't a video game. There wasn't a respawn or past save point if you failed. This was life.

When we finally reached my cell, the male Pyro went up to a panel and typed a combination of numbers in. I didn't even bother to try to look at the numbers he punched in. The panel opened another next to it, where he took off his glove and gave it a scan for his fingerprint. He had to put his flamethrower on the ground, since it took two hands to hold it up. Pyros were known to be powerful, but not as strong as, for example, a Soldier who could easily lift the weapon.

After the fingerprint was verified, the female Pyro did the same thing, combination and fingerprint scan. One of them was unarmed in those ten seconds. I still had my gadgets and my hands weren't bound. I could have easily taken out the flamethrower wielding one and finished off the other before they could grab their weapon. I had a chance and didn't even bother to take it. No doubt cameras would have seen me, but I was likely going to die anyway.

"Thhhke ohhf yhher dihhskhhse." The male Pyro told me. He sighed once he saw the confusion in my eyes of me trying to decipher his muffled language. He lifted the mask off his face just a little bit. "Take off your disguise." He repeated.

"I'm not wearing a disguise." I challenged. Maybe I could use this chance. "I'm just a regular guard."

Still having the mask lifted, he said, "Do it or we'll burn it off." The flamethrowers were leveled at me.

"Alright, alright." I said, putting my hands up in innocence. There was no use tricking them any longer. They knew I was a Spy. I carefully got out my disguise kit from my pocket, them watching my hands carefully the entire time. I selected my disguise from the screen and the disguise melted away, almost like a second skin, off my body.

They then searched me and took all my possessions. I was given an orange jumpsuit, like all the other prisoners, and had to undress in front of them to put it on and take my other clothes off. Then the cell door was opened for me to enter.

"Ghhet ihnsihhde." The male Pyro ordered. I reluctantly followed the instructions.

"Hhahve fuhhn, Spyhhh!" The other remarked and made some muffled laughter at my fate before the door shut behind me and they walked away.

They left me, and so had my hope.

.-.

For the next few days, it was nothing but silence and darkness. I didn't even get to go outside or take a shower. Two basic rights, cleanliness and sunlight, were already taken from me because I was a Spy. The cell started to smell of my body odor, but it was a patch of flowers compared to the smell of the food I had to choke down. Things such as taste should be left untold.

The cell was misery and loneliness. But on the third day, I had a visitor.


	3. Chapter 3

Note: Thanks again to Lammy-Sama for their support, and the description has been changed by request but not the title. It provides a point in the future of this fanfiction. And sorry to all my readers for not updating this sooner.

Chapter three

"-sure it's safe?"

"Oh please, you know me. I'll be fine."

I looked up from the floor at the sound of the second voice, a voice familiar to me. The first one was the male Pyro, talking without his mask, as always. He seemed to either hate the thing or hate it when people couldn't understand him with it on. The female Pyro seemed to enjoy taunting him for this. But the second voice intrigued me. I knew this voice, but couldn't quite put my finger on its owner. It was feminine, that much I knew.

"I'll be right outside in case anything happens."

"Nothing will happen."

"Whatever you say."

I flicked open the tray slot to try to get a good look at the duo. I came face to face with the Pyro instead, unlocking the door to my cell.

"Sthhp ahhhwhhy frhhm theh dohhr." He said, his mask now on. I took a step back and took my hands off the slot. "Rehd!" He called, the codename for the other Pyro. At least, I thought it was a codename. Red could be a real name, but his, Orange, didn't seem to be. Those also seemed to be the colors of fire. Ironic or not, they were still the male and female Pyro to me. If they didn't tell me their real names, then they were nothing more than the base of themselves.

She heard his voice echoing down the halls and came over. They were designed that way for that purpose and to hear any prisoners if they tried anything. "Whht ihhs ihht?" She asked. "I hhve thihngs to do." She seemed to decipher the issue. "Alrhhght. Ghhve mhe a sehcohnd."

After a few seconds, the male Pyro muttered, "Thhnx." The door creaked open a bit. "Yhhou hhve a vihhsitohr." He said to me and swung the door fully open.

"Nice to see you again." My visitor said and entered the room.

"Seinfeld?" I asked, finally recognizing her. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been watching your progress for quite a while. You lasted about 48 hours undetected, though suspicion was high. Not bad for a rookie. In fact, better than I did on my test."

"Test? You mean this was all a test?"

"Of course. We wouldn't be stupid enough to waste a valuable Spy on their first mission. That would be a waste of resources too, which I am glad to say you didn't do. No bullets fired from your gun, no sappers used, no cigarettes smoked. Yet you lasted the longest. I must say it's been…intriguing." She paused for a second, as if to think. "Of course, there was that one guard you killed. You know, you didn't make it hard to find the body. You didn't even bury it."

"So…was this a failure?"

"As I said before, it was a test. Just some practice to see which points you excel and fail at. So I can say yes and no to your question. You just need a few days of practice in those fields and you'll be ready to do a real mission."

"It's that easy?"

"I wouldn't call it easy. Simple, yes. Easy, no." She looked around. "That does not apply to this prison, however. It's constructed to be inescapable. Pyros all around patrolling the area, cameras everywhere, and two foot long concrete walls. Prisoners come in, bodies come out."

"Well," I half smiled. "I'm not a body, am I?"

She glanced at me with such an expressionless look that made my smile disappear. "Not yet."

"Not yet?" The tenseness rose again. "What is this?"

"This, you ignorant boy, is the life of prisoners. All prisoners. Including you." Her voice had changed. It was now a man's voice.

My heart began to beat. "What are you?"

"Same as you. A Spy." The disguise faded off and revealed him. I was speechless. I had been played that easily. There was not even a speck of suspiciousness in my body until he had muttered, "Not yet."

"How…how did you even obtain that disguise?" I asked, having nothing else to say.

"It's easy enough. Sneak in, get the disguise, and come out. Simple as that. No need to _knock out_ anyone." He gave me a look and I immediately knew he knew about the second disguise I had obtained. Its name was Danny, I believed.

"Why would you do this? I didn't give you any information you didn't already know."

"I did this because I could. See what you're really made of. I knew there was a Spy here, but I never expected it to be a recruit. I didn't know Blu would be that stupid to send a child. And one so trusting of a single disguise. Spies should suspect anyone and anything. You aren't the only Spy around. While _you're _backstabbing someone, we could be right behind you with a knife. You should be lucky I didn't kill you before when I had the chance."

"When did you first know about it?"

"As soon as I saw your second victim. He said he must have tripped and hit his head. Unlikely. Anyone would have seen something fishy in that. And after someone had reported talking to them while they were knocked out, I began to hunt you down. I saw you before the guard did. I saw you huddled in the corner, practically shivering when the guard was about to get you. I saw you kill him. The questioning was just to see if you did proper spy work. But you did no background checks, nothing. It made it easy."

"What questions did I get wrong?"

"Surprisingly, only a few. You have a knack for guessing. But why are you even asking this? You won't be around to go report it to anyone."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you'll be dead. Obviously. Your execution is in two days. I'm just here to report it."

"Two days?"

"You _can_ hear, correct? Yes, two days. But now since I got that taken care of, I'll be on my way. Good luck!" He began to walk away and then turned. "Wait, scratch that. You don't need any." Then he exited, walking very casually and whistling, not a fear in the world.

Two days. Forty eight hours. 2880 minutes, because I have nothing to do but math. That short of a time until I'm executed for being a Spy. For being a murderer. Why did I ever think of becoming a Spy in the first place? I had abandoned my life, even if it was a lie, to become a Spy. I had abandoned Sniper, my only friend. Everyone who meant something to me thought I was dead, and I soon would be.

"I don't ever want to see you again. You come back here as an old man, just like me." I remember my grandfather saying to me. Only now did I remember that. I had let him down by becoming a Spy. And I couldn't reverse the time and stop it. I would have been sent away anyway, but at least I could still be alive then. I just wish I could get back to them somehow.

I stared at the two foot long concrete walls that were my cell. This was the wall that blocked me from the outside world. If I could break it down somehow, I would be free. But there was no way I could break it. I had no tools to do so. The wall didn't look weak from use so I could break it with sheer force. And the Spy could have lied to me. Maybe it wasn't even concrete.

I glanced at my fingernails. Chewed a bit from stress and boredom, but nevertheless the only tools I had. I looked at the wall again. It would take years to scratch through the walls, make a whole big enough to crawl through, and allow time to let them grow, all without being caught. It was, as the Spy had said, impossible. But it was worth a shot. Better to be productive than sitting on the floor doing nothing.

A name was carved into the concrete, one so deformed and with such strange letters that I could not recognize even a single letter of the English alphabet in it. But it at least gave me a start. Using my pointer finger's nail, I began to mindlessly pick at the first letter of the name. After a minute or so of chipping away, I got a small sharp rock under my nail as an award. I had to lift up the fingernail to actually pick it out, but at least I had made some progress in the wall.

"One percent done." I said out loud, not caring if there were cameras around or not. But I knew my percentage was beyond that. Perhaps 0.001 percent. But I didn't care to bother thinking about that.

I continued picking at the wall for hours until my mind was as gray as the wall.

There were three knocks on my door that night. The call for dinner. If you didn't come to the door in ten seconds, they would push the food tray out the slot and leave it on the floor. It wasn't their business what happened to the food after, but the tray had to be pushed back out when they knocked an hour later or they'd come in the cell themselves and take it from you.

I saw one person purposely not push the tray out of the slot so they could overpower the guards and escape somehow. But the person delivering the food wasn't a Pyro. It was a Heavy. The prisoner got most of his teeth knocked out of his mouth and a broken arm. And that was all I saw.

I came to the door of the cell, still sucking the blood from the cuts on my fingertips. For hours I had picked at the wall until my fingernails were gone and I was picking at the wall with my bare skin, ripping it until blood spouted out. I could barely move my fingers without feeling pain, but I tried to ignore it. I grabbed the tray and sat back on my cot.

The food actually looked somewhat promising today. Although I said I wouldn't explain it, I don't really care anymore. The "main course" was a reddish-brown mass of mush that almost looked like crushed pieces of meat. I poked it with my finger and almost heard it gurgle at me. Maybe I'm just going crazy. I scooped up a bit of it with my fingertip, getting a drop or two of blood on it, and tasted it.

I spit it out as soon as I tasted it. The metallic taste of the blood mixed in with the sour, possibly rotten, "meat" was disgusting. I coughed it up, just trying to get the taste out of my mouth. The worst part was, this tasted better than the other foods on my tray. I cringed and had a second taste of the meat looking mush.

Enduring the terrible taste, I continued to eat it. But as I had a third taste, it started to taste different. Almost sweet. It was strange, but I ignored it. The sweetness made it taste better. It was such a change from my normal diet of gag-worthy meals that I practically licked the tray clean of the mush. And it was filling. I didn't even bother to eat the rest of my food.

As I sat down on my cot, content and letting it digest, I began to feel sleepy. Very sleepy. Exhausted. I collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

"Wake up! You, Spy, wake up!" I heard a voice whisper. I was still half unconscious, and I mumbled out a slur of words even I didn't know. "Dammit, we don't have time for this! Wake up!"

"Huh?" I mumbled out, and opened my eyes, coming face to face with a man, a Medic it appeared to be. "Who're you?"

"Who I am is not important. What I'm doing is. I'm breaking you out of here."

"Wait a second." I rubbed my eyes and tried to wake up more. "Did you say you were breaking me out of here?" I looked around. "Where am I anyway?" Around me were cabinets, hundreds of them, one of which was open. It was a body.

"Exactly what it appears to be." He said, watching me examine the room. "A morgue. And you heard right."

"Why am I in a morgue? And why are you breaking me out?"

"I'll try to answer these as fast as I can, so please limit to one question at a time. You are in a morgue because I put a drug in your food."

"You mean the meat-looking stuff?"

"Yes. And that was chicken, by the way. This drug, crafted by yours truly, is supposed to, when ingested, paralyze its consumer until the antidote is provided. In fact, the paralysis does such a good job that it appears as if you are dead. Your pulse even is weak. They take you to the morgue for a Medic to examine, such as myself, and we determine the cause of death and then dispose of the body. I told them someone poisoned your food. That is not far from the truth."

"And you're going to help me escape now that I'm here?"

"Correct."

"But why would you help me? You are a Red, right?"

"Yes. I am a Red but I at least have morals. You're still a rookie. It is unethical to send someone who is a child. For that, I am helping you escape."

"Well," I had nothing else to say, "Thank you."

"Now we need to hurry and get you out of this prison so we can get you out of our base before my people find you."

I almost sighed in relief. This mission had been a full blown panic attack the whole way. I would be glad to just be somewhere safe. But…"Wait a second!" I said. "No matter what I've been through, I still need to complete this mission."

The Medic narrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean? What was your mission?"

"To get your Intel. I haven't completed the mission and…I don't think I can go back to the base empty handed."

"You'd be willing to die before experiencing a failure? This could be suicide."

"Better to die a hero than to die a coward."

"You are a coward. I can see that. You just want to be a hero to feel like you are what you are not. Is that correct?"

I was almost frightened of this Medic's perspective. I had never thought of it like that, but now that I thought about it, it was true. "But isn't that what we all are fighting for?"

He sighed. "I suppose so. But do whatever you like. I'll help you escape the prison, but you come back here again, I'll make sure your corpse remains like that. A corpse. No matter what my damned conscience says."

"Then you won't see me again."

"Let's hope so. But let's get back to business. I've managed to snag all that I could that seemed like Spy gadgets. Unfortunately, that was only one item." He handed me an item I recognized. The Dead Ringer.

"Well, it's better than nothing." I said and put it on, hiding it under my sleeve. "Thanks. For everything. Is there anything I can do in return?"

"I was just going to mention that. I've developed a weapon, just a prototype, meant for the Spy class. But I have no idea if it will work or not. That's for you to see." He handed me a very fancy looking knife.

"What does it do?" I muttered, busy examining the weapon.

"It's supposed to automatically work with a disguise kit, I've examined one before, so when you stab someone with the knife it triggers you to take their disguise instantly. It also destroys the body you have stabbed."

"How?"

"I can't tell you that. That's important information I can't give to a Blu. I'd be betraying the Reds." He said with a bit of humor in his voice. "But I call the knife the Eternal Reward. That is a name it deserves if it works, however. Whether you escape or not will make it known if that is true. Which, by the way, you should be doing. Guards change shifts in a minute or two, and that'll be your only chance to blend in. And your only escape route will be to follow the train tracks out. Just be sure not to get hit, or you're a goner."

"Again, thanks."

"Don't mention it. Really; they'll have my head for this. Now go, before it's too late."

I nodded and, finding the exit of the morgue, left the room. Almost immediately I heard voices coming towards me. Making sure there were no visible cameras of any kind around, I quickly ran into the nearest dark passage. This happened to be the hallway to the men's bathroom, if the signs were correct. I cursed myself for my prisoner's orange jumpsuit. Even in the darkness I could probably be seen, but I just had to hope that they wouldn't see me.

The footsteps got closer and closer to me, and for a second I wondered if the Medic had just tricked me, as the Spy had. Maybe he had just "rescued" me to just thrust me into the guard's open arms again so my death would happen swifter than two days. Maybe he was the Spy. But someone hoping to betray me wouldn't have both armed me and gotten back my Dead Ringer. Maybe that's what he wanted me to think.

I shook my head of these thoughts, seeing the guards approach. There were three of them, silent and walking closely together. I just had to wait for the third to pass by me before I snuck up behind them and stabbed him in the back. Hopefully there wouldn't be more guards behind them. Stop thinking, just act.

I quickly ran in, my feet silent against the floor, and buried the blade into his back. He didn't even cry out as I pulled it out, his body falling to the floor without a sound. Just as the Medic had said, the body immediately disappeared, as if it had never been there to begin with. Just like that, I had taken the guard's place. A scary thought, being anyone in the base could have been backstabbed and replaced. But luckily this was only a prototype. For now.

The other guards didn't even notice a difference in the environment. I just had to hope they weren't just tricking me. Following the guards, I managed to get outside. It was barely morning when I stepped out, meaning that we would be switching out with the day guards. Good. Now I could be under a bit of cover at least when I snuck away. I would probably need to escape through the train tracks at night too, so it would be easier to see an incoming train's lights.

As I snuck away from the other guards and hid in the darkness of the building, I began to devise a plan. Whether or not it would work would have to depend on my luck and skill, hoping I had actually learned something in the past few days. But the Medic's thoughts began to soak into mine. I had this chance to escape, to drop all the Spy nonsense and perhaps live under a fake identity for the rest of my life. But at least it would be in peace and I wouldn't have to worry about anyone attacking me.

But I knew I couldn't do that. It wasn't that I was brave or idiotic, but this new found confidence seemed to make me a little of both. I would do this mission, or die trying. Now or never. I braced myself and went inside.

The first person I saw in the building was a janitor, busily mopping the floor of what looked like throw up. It would be a nice target for my plan, and I approached him quickly, hopefully so no one else would see me. Concealed carefully in my sleeve, I navigated the Eternal Reward to my fingers and, being as quiet as I could, stabbed him in the back and twisted the knife to ensure his death.

Just like that, I was now the janitor. It was an immoral and unjust thing I had done, killing an innocent person. When I had killed Goodrich, I had spent the whole train ride dwelling on what I had done. But I just felt guilt then. Now killing this man, killing this person felt so _good_. I wasn't sure why, but it felt as if my adrenaline started pumping. Excited, perhaps? Excited to finish this mission perhaps.

I put the knife back in its hiding place and started to move. I couldn't dawdle long. No doubt cameras were everywhere. I had to hurry and get another disguise before I could be discovered. The level of authority and security had increased with the level of stairs. Every floor I would need at least one disguise, as well as doing it more carefully. If there was any suspicion, I would be done for.

The first floor was the easy level; no visible thermal cameras and barely any people to witness anything. The second floor would be the medium level, like a video game, and so on. Time to get to work so I could beat the boss.

I scaled the stairs, taking two at a time. It was when I reached the top that I saw what would be an enemy if I had gotten my Invis watch instead of my Dead Ringer and no Eternal Reward. The thermal camera. I mentally thanked the Medic and started to head into the hallway. To my surprise, there was a guard in my path where he hadn't been the first time I came to the second floor.

"I don't believe you have the authority to be on this floor." He said, scanning me for any traces of identification.

"I just got those papers today!" I said, trying an act. "I swear I had an ID!" I began to check in my disguise's pockets to try to find the nonexistent ID.

"If you were authorized you can get another ID. Leave."

"I was authorized! Is that good enough? Let me in!"

"Sir, just go downstairs. Don't cause a commotion."

"I'm not leaving until I'm let onto that floor!"

"Then you'll be waiting a long while." I tried to push him aside, keeping up with the act. He pushed me back. "Leave now before you get hurt." He warned.

"Let me in, dammit!" I tried to run in, but he stopped me. I let my disguise start a struggle, and soon another guard came in to help him out. In a wrath of fighting, I managed to lay a few damaging punches and kicks into their body, though most of it was flailing around.

"Throw him out!" One guard said to another, and they both dragged me down the stairs out of the camera's view. That was when I put my hand on one of the guard's backs and stabbed him with my knife. He collapsed and disintegrated. The other guard was so focused with the worker disguise that he didn't realize what happened.

"What the hell?" He asked, looking around. "Where'd he go?"

"He must have been a Spy." I suggested.

"I'll get some Pyros here and look around. You go back upstairs and warn the other guards."

"Got it." I said and ran up the stairs once more. The excuse of warning the guards did help me out a bit, as I could approach them without any suspicion.

I began to scan the rooms for another guard with higher authority. When I couldn't find one, all I could do was climb another floor. This floor was unknown to me, along with its level of security, but I couldn't stop now that I was this far. I just hope I wouldn't eat those words later.

As I climbed the stairs, I found no cameras anywhere. They must have been hidden, but it was strange that they didn't have thermal cameras. If a Spy like me had made it up this far, you'd think they would be everywhere. I just had to be cautious.

I saw a target and approached him. He gave me a wary look as soon as I approached him. With good reason, of course. "A Spy was just spotted downstairs. Be careful." I said.

"A Spy? How did you know?"

"He just disappeared when we tried to take him downstairs."

"Why were you taking him downstairs?"

"He was disguised as a janitor. Didn't have the authority to be on this floor, but he put up a fight. Then he just disappeared. So he might have slipped by."

"I'm going to have to warn the Commanders about this. The Intel and they need to be kept safe. Stay here and warn the others."

"Whatever you say." I watched the direction he was going, another flight of stairs. Then, after a few seconds passed, I hastened my pace and followed him. He was still climbing the stairs when I got behind him and pulled out my knife.

"I don't think so." He said, seeing me out of the corner of his eye and kicked me down the stairs. I kept a tight grip on my knife to make sure it didn't fall out of my hand. He pulled out a shotgun and I thoughtlessly reacted, throwing the Eternal Reward. It landed into his leg and he was just about to cry out when his body fell to the ground. He became my new disguise.

I took a second to gather myself and my knife from my short battle. The shotgun also became part of my arsenal, even though I could barely handle it when it was even to me as a Soldier. I at least could use it if need be. I poked my head out downstairs just to see if anyone had noticed the battle, excluding the cameras if they were even around. There seemed to be no reactions whatsoever, so I continued my way upstairs.

Now since I was high security, I could see the Commanders and possibly take one of them as my disguise. Then I could finally find out where the Intel is so I could take it. This may be easier than I thought, but I didn't want to jinx myself. This floor had much more technological security than guards, but that would be a precaution.

Cameras, whether thermal or otherwise, decorated the walls, gazing at me with their lenses. The doors were shut and locked by keypad and no doubt inches thick and made of steel or a more powerful metal. There were no names to label the doors, and I couldn't even peek inside somehow to see who was who. I just needed to find someone.

"Mr. Grinnell, please state your business." I looked around, trying to locate the sudden voice. "Up here, if you will."

I glanced up at the wall to see a camera looking directly at me and I could faintly see a face in its reflection. But even if I squinted, I couldn't tell if it was human or otherwise. It was more of a blend of colors in an upside-down picture. More security here than I thought. I needed to find a disguise, and I couldn't even see one face to face without going through all these cameras.

"I need to speak to the Commander." Might as well save myself some time. If I could see the highest authority in the building, then I could no doubt get the Intel. No bother trying to go through the minor Commanders.

"You can speak to me."

I was going to ask what it was, but I suppressed that curiosity. "This is important information. I can't speak of it when" I glanced side to side for effect to my acting. "Others might be around."

"Hmm." The monotone voice said, sounding almost human for a second. I had heard of artificial conscious, some scientists were supposedly working on it, but could this be one of its creations? "I suppose you can. But we'll be watching your every move." The colors drained away and left it blank.

One of the doors suddenly opened, surprisingly the closest one to the stairs. I would imagine that it would be at the end of the hall, out of danger. But that was another fact just to confuse me. I entered the room.

"What could be such a problem that you had to bother me in private, Grinnell? I'm at a very important meeting." A woman, looking about in her mid-forties, had her back to me and was looking at a screen in front of her. The screen had multiple points on it, colored red, blue, or white depending on if and whose team had captured that area. I was surprised to actually see more red colored points. Hopefully when I captured this Intel I could turn the tide.

I looked around and saw no one in the room but her. "I don't see anyone else here. How are you in a meeting?"

"That's none of your business. Now get to the point, I'm very busy." I glanced at a shovel sitting in a chair to itself, and that's when I predicted she was either crazy, paranoid, or both. That could make her a good leader, I suppose.

"A Spy has been detected in the building."

She laughed. "A Spy? We can take care of a Spy. Send some Pyros in and the job's done. Now be on your way."

"Well, we also found this coincidence interesting. That Spy we recently caught-the one disguised as a guard-he was supposedly dead but now we can't find his body." I half hoped that they had actually found this fact, half didn't. It could convince this Commander, nevertheless.

"Are his gadgets still in custody?" Her attitude had changed dramatically, and her voice had turned serious.

"Most of them."

"Then we might be in trouble. A Spy that has died at least twice and we still can't find him might be dangerous. We need to secure the Intel. Come with me."

Before she left the room, she went over to the shovel's chair and picked up the tool. "What would you need that for?" I asked.

She grinned maniacally. "In case we run into any trouble on the way."

I was almost scared of this woman, but followed her out of the room. We went down the hallway and she opened a secret door on the side of a wall. I wondered if my base was like this. If I lived, I might have to check it out later. The way through the door was a narrow passageway so short we had to squat. But due to the limited mobility, it was the perfect time to perform a back stab. I quietly grabbed my knife and moved in closer for the kill.

The knife was suddenly ripped out of my grip and I saw that the Commander was facing me. She threw the knife behind her, out of both of our reach, and pulled out her shovel. "You should know that we Soldiers can be just as good at identifying Spies as any Pyros. But we deal much more damage." The shovel was jabbed my way, like a spear, and I could only barely avoid it when a short swing came my way.

It slammed into my face, and I felt my nose break almost instantly. I clutched it, trying not to cry out, and felt the blood run into my hands. My disguise faded off my body.

"This is going to be almost too easy. Too bad you don't know how to use a shotgun, huh?" She readied the shovel for a final swing that was surely knock me out or kill me if it made contact.

"Yeah," I smirked. "Too bad." I sent a bullet straight into her face. The force of the bullet threw her backward, and my shoulders were jarred from the power of the shotgun. The booming of the gun had surely gone through the tunnel, alerting anyone who was near. I was deaf for a few seconds because of this noise and threw the gun down. Hopefully I wouldn't need it ever again.

I went over to the Commander's body. Her face was blown apart, and I had to roll her body over before I could stare at it any longer. It was horrifying, and I was afraid I would see it in my nightmares. I retrieved the Eternal Reward and sighed. In killing her with the shotgun, I ruined my chance of using her as a disguise. Even if it did work, my disguise would have a pretty messed up face that would be unconvincing. I just hoped there was no one else around. I'd had enough trouble for one day.

Before continuing to follow the tunnel, I scavenged the Commander's body for anything on it. Not surprisingly, there was nothing on her body. No identification, no weapons, nothing. I would have expected that from someone as paranoid as her. I sighed and kept moving.

I didn't even bother to muffle my footsteps as they would have been alerted of my presence beforehand with the shotgun. As I kept moving down the tunnel, I began to hear a faint beeping, getting louder as I went. When I finally reached the end, the beeping was right at my ears, and some red lights were flashing. I had to see what it was, even if my head would get blown off as soon as I poked it out.

Holding my knife as if my life depended on it, I poked my head out. A couple of beeps went off; alerting me to pull my head back in before an onslaught of bullets and a rocket or two flew over my head. I had only seen it for a second, but it was enough to start my heart up. It was a Sentry gun, level 3. Luckily it seemed to be only one, but they were dangerous all the same.

I swore, wishing I had gotten some Sappers with me. But all my possessions had been taken before hand, so I was left without a plan. My disguise was ruined, so I couldn't simply walk by the Sentry either. I glanced at my tools at hand. The Eternal Reward couldn't protect me from any pain, and I couldn't use the Dead Ringer to become invisible and sneak by it. But could the watch trick the Sentry to thinking I was dead?

It was my only chance of getting the Intel. Either that, or turn around and waste all of this hard work I had done. I might as well give the Dead Ringer a shot. Hopefully I wasn't just being stupid again. I backed up into the tunnel before running full speed forward, the Dead Ringer open and activated. The beeping went off and I felt bullets tear through my skin. But a body had dropped in front of the Sentry. My body. And the bullets had stopped.

I realized that the plan had actually worked, but moved quickly into another room before the invisibility would wear off. It was in the next room that I had finally found it. The Intel. A red briefcase, filled almost to the brim with papers, just sitting on a desk for the taking. It was almost suspicious how easy this would be, but if something was going to happen, I needed to get out of here quickly.

Making sure there were no other Sentries, I ran in and took the briefcase by the handle. But under it, written on the desk in red liquid, were the words, "Wherever a Sentry is, an Engineer is nearby". I froze, feeling a gun barrel to my hand.

"Say your prayers, boy." A voice said.

I swung the briefcase around, smacking the Engineer in the face. He stumbled a bit, but fired the shotgun twice at me. I could barely avoid the blasts, and my ears were ringing from the noise. I thought of running back into the tunnels and retrieving my shotgun, but I would have to go through the Sentry again. And my Dead Ringer wasn't charged yet.

I had to simply dodge the attacks until my watch was charged, and I could either trick him or the gun and maybe escape. But I kept my knife in my dominant hand, the Intel in my other, seeing if I could manage to stab him before his shotgun blasted me into bits. Then my plan was ruined when he threw the shotgun away and took out his wrench.

"Let's make this a fair battle then. A melee battle."

I had heard of these battles before. Usually one on one, when enemies attacked using only their melee weapons to see who was stronger or faster and whose weapons were more powerful. His wrench was different from a normal one, with a strange claw-like shape as the head. If that could hook into my body, it could easily rip me apart in which I could then be beaten to death. My knife was used primarily for assassination, and a slash at the front could get it knocked away. But it could deal a nasty injury if it hit something vital.

We circled each other, melee weapon in hand, waiting for one of us to advance. It continued like this for a few minutes where he finally got fed up with waiting and swung the wrench at my head. I dodged it easily and jabbed the knife forward, trying to hit something. My attack was easily avoidable and he dodged it. But then just as we were going to circle for another round, he suddenly threw the wrench at me.

I hadn't expected him to be stupid enough to rid of his only weapon, so I was stupid enough to not move out of the way. It slammed into my face, and I cried out. I could taste blood, but nothing seemed to be broken, luckily. But I played like I was actually injured just to trick him. He went to retrieve his weapon just as I got behind him and sank the blade into his back.

Without a sound, he fell to the ground, dead, before his body disappeared. I began to scavenge his pockets for a weapon I could use. Both of the shotguns were too loud, and if I got into a struggle like this again, the Eternal Reward couldn't save me then. My luck had surely run out by now. I needed to focus on skill.

There was a pistol on his tool belt that I could use, which could serve as a replacement revolver for now. They were both handguns, but I knew that the pistol wasn't the same feel. It would have to work for now. I slipped it into my jacket and, Intel in hand, moved past the Sentry. With the Engineer disguise, it would just think of me as a friendly target.

As soon as I got to the tunnels, I slumped down from exhaustion. I had experienced two battles in the last thirty minutes, more before that, and was already sleepless in the prison cell. If guards came to investigate the scene, then fine. I needed a rest before my thinking slowed down enough to get me killed. Then all I needed to do was escape the building and the base. The thought of it made it seem so easy. I closed my eyes and drifted into sleep, the thoughts disappearing.


	4. Chapter 4

Note: Thanks to Lanny-Sama (and sorry about spelling your name wrong before; I hate the m and n keys being so close to each other) for all their support, and thanks to my other new reviewers. And thank you for my other readers. All of your support is much appreciated.

Chapter four

As soon as I woke up, refreshed, I felt much better. The stress was gone for the moment and I almost felt relaxed. Then I realized I was still in RED team's base. I muttered a curse under my breath and staggered onto my feet, briefcase in one hand and pistol in the other. Just a little longer, and I'd be out of here. But I wondered if I could even relax then, once I reached my own base. I shoved that idea from my mind and started to exit the tunnel.

The pistol was loaded and ready ahead of me in case anything appeared in front of me. While I walked, I tried to formulate a plan in my head. The guards would obviously expect something if the Engineer, the person supposed to be guarding the Intel, was suddenly strolling around in the base with the briefcase in hand. And, seeing it as being too suspicious, I opened the Intel and pocketed the papers. Now I needed to find a new disguise before I was detected.

I only then realized that if I found another disguise and murdered its owner that would be eighth person I would have killed in this mission alone. And one of them was my age. Sure, most of them were trying to kill me, but it made it no different. Great timing for my conscience to finally doubt my actions, just before the mission was finished. Luckily I was still on the mission, so I could erase those thoughts and focus on something else.

I had finally reached the end of the tunnel and opened it from a button on the left side of the exit door. The buttons were easy enough to understand, green being open and red being close. I would have thought that they would have something more complex. But that was their fault, and it was my benefactor. I poked my head out of the tunnel to check the halls for anyone.

A Pyro who was patrolling the halls saw me and nodded his head my way. "Ehvehninhg, Ehngihneehr. Ihs thehre ah prohblehm?" It was just about morning when I first entered the base, and now it was already evening. How time flies.

"I swear I keep hearing these noise and silhouettes near my Sentry. Don't know if I'm going crazy or not, but its better safe than sorry."

"Ahbsohlutehly. Ahlright, leht meh chehck iht ouht." The Pyro headed into the tunnel and walked past me. He kept turning his head to detect any noise of this supposed Spy. Too bad he didn't look right behind him. I buried the Eternal Reward into his back and he fell to the ground, his body disappearing instantly. I took his flamethrower into my arms to complete my disguise and exited the tunnel.

The door closed behind me and I headed towards the staircase, trying to remember the right direction. Landmarks such as the camera with the "person" helped me navigate back, and I passed by another Pyro on the way there. We merely nodded towards each other and kept walking. I kept my ears open in case their boots made any change of noise.

The camera watched me as I went, but didn't speak to me as it had before. I headed down the staircase and to the next floor. There were more Pyros here, looking around for the Spy that, unbeknownst to them, was walking right under their noses disguised as one of them. They were so alert of a Spy that they didn't even bother to check each other. Perfect.

I walked down the next staircase, down to the firm ground of the last floor. Even more Pyros were here, but as with the others, they didn't bat an eyelash in my direction. Of course, I couldn't tell that with their gasmasks on. But it was when I opened the doors to exit the base that they all turned to me.

"Whehre ahre you goihng?" One of them asked me.

I thought quickly. "I've been assigned to the prison. The Commander wants to sweep the building again." I had to "lift" my disguise's mask up for him to talk normally since I couldn't' copy the way they spoke.

The Pyro who asked the question shrugged. "Whatehvehr the Cohmmandher sayhs ihs fihne wihth uhs. Go aheahd." I almost had a mental sigh before another Pyro spoke up.

"Buht you shoulhdn't go ahlohne. Thaht would be dahngerohus wihth the Sphy sthill ahround. I'lhl go wihth you."

I gritted my teeth in frustration, hoping that they couldn't see my expression through my disguise's mask. "Good idea. That way if he gets one of us, one of us can still burn the bastard." I agreed to not be suspicious.

The other Pyros nodded in agreement and sent the Pyro accompanying me out the door, following close by me. I needed to get rid of this Pyro quickly. Their presence alone was ruining my chances of escaping. And if I made a run for it, they could easily take me down. So I had to take them down first.

After walking a few meters close to the prison, I turned to them for a second. "Tell me. Why would someone want to tag along with a Pyro? I'm of high authority, and you can't trust me to go on alone? Or are you a Spy trying to stab me in the back?" At the last question, I leveled the flamethrower at them though I had no idea how to use it. A giant lighter was intimidating enough, however.

"I ahm and nehver wilhl be ah Sphy. They'rhe bahckstahbbing spoohks thaht dehsehrve to bhe shoht whehre they stahnd. I becahme a Pyrho to kihll them. Dohn't accuhse me of behing ohne." The Pyro said, sounding almost insulted but still looked afraid with the flamethrower pointing at him.

"Then you wouldn't mind me using the flamethrower on you. Pyro's suits are flammable, and if you're not a Spy, then you won't be burned."

"Fihne thehn. Fihre ahway." I made it look like I was ready to press the button, then swiftly got out my pistol and shot the Pyro in the head. It provided a bit of a kick, but I could hold onto the gun. The gunshot was a little loud, but I had stopped walking far enough from the base that possibly one guard might have heard it.

And now my killing count was nine. I sighed at the thought and put the pistol away. At least it was quick and painless. Now I could make my escape. I snuck away, thankful it was evening, hiding in the shadows and getting closer to the train tracks. There were guards patrolling but I easily walked around them and reached the tracks without incident.

I looked ahead in the darkness and found no lights to light my pathway. Though it would be beneficial to not be seen from the base, it would be better if I could see my hand in front of my face. I knew that from the train ride here that everything around was desert. No food, no water, nothing. And the train ride had taken a few days if I remembered right. The trains moved considerably fast, so walking would take more than a few days. A week, if I was lucky. And considering that a train wouldn't be arriving…

I tried not to visualize that happening. With a sigh, I started walking.

.-.

It was about noon that I felt my worst. My feet were sore from hours of nonstop walking, I was dehydrated, and the sun didn't make it any better. I had already taken off the jacket of my suit, dragging it behind me without a thought while it gathered up dirt. Spots kept appearing in my vision, so I walked with my head down away from the sun, looking at the train tracks. There was no movement in the desert sand next to me, and I swear I would have eaten a snake if it dared poke its head out of the ground just to get some liquid into my body.

I even considered the thought of drinking my own piss just to get a drink. But an hour or two after I had left the base, I had gone to the bathroom and now I couldn't even produce a drop of urine. And I had to last a week with this kind of dehydration.

My legs finally collapsed under me from my endless walking. I fell to the tracks and could barely sit up with my exhaustion. Maybe death would be painless. Then again, if there was a Hell then I would no doubt be burning in it for all the people I killed. As long as I wasn't this thirsty. I sighed and closed my eyes.

A squeaking like that of an animal made me open them once more. I glanced to my right and found a mouse sitting right beside me, not even noticing I was there. To some this was just a desert rodent, but to me it was a tiny pinch of life contained in an animal. I picked up my jacket beside me and lifted it above the mouse. It didn't even twitch. I lowered the jacket onto the rodent and closed it like a sack, trapping it inside.

It struggled and clawed inside its prison, making fearful squeaking noises as it went. I reached inside the jacket and recoiled once I felt it scratch at me. Good thing it wasn't a bite. This time I reached in with my knife and, once I felt its small body, speared it and lifted it to my eyes. I was dismayed to see its body disappear. The damned Eternal Reward.

At least I didn't turn into the mouse luckily. That was a bug I hoped would never be fixed. Frankly, it would be strange to be crawling on the floor disguised as a mouse when you were actually the size of a man. I slid the knife back into my sleeve and laid back on the tracks. My one chance of surviving was ruined. I suppose that's what I got, considering how many people died from it.

I closed my eyes and drifted off, too tired to think any longer.

.-.

The rumbling of the tracks is what awoke me from my sleep. My eyes flashed open and I hurriedly ran off the train tracks even though I was still exhausted. It was nighttime again, and I could easily see the lights of a train approaching. A train. Inside were people. And people had to be sustained by food and water to inside. From my experience on the train, we were brought some food and water. All I had to do was get some of that and I could survive. This train was a godsend.

I just to get aboard the train. But there were no openings on the side of the train that I could throw myself into. The only openings were on the top of the train, and those were closed shut. So I had to jump aboard and get ahold of something to be able to climb to the top and get inside. I just hoped my luck was still working or I would either be dead or left to die in the desert of dehydration.

Readying myself, I waited patiently for the train to pass in front of me. The lights were almost blinding as it got closer, but I held a hand over my eyes to try to see the train. The rush of the locomotive moving as fast as it could that it made my footing wobbly. Luckily my ears weren't also out since the train itself was silent.

I saw an opportunity-a horizontal bar used to properly shut the doors-and jumped. My left hand was the only one that got ahold of it, but I held on. I propped my feet against the side of the train, trying to ignore the vibrations that made the area unstable, and grabbed onto the bar with my right hand. The doors locked from the inside, so there was no way to get inside easily from the current position I was in. I hooked my legs around the bar to see if the bar was strong enough to hold my entire weight.

There seemed to be no change in it, so I put my feet on top of the bar and tried to get into a standing position. A crouch was the best I could do and now I could easily get onto the top of the train. I leapt onto the train on my stomach and skidded a little towards the edge. My body clenched in fear, knowing I could fall, but I appeared to slide no longer. I saw one of the doors that could allow me to get inside the train and crawled forward towards it.

Once the handle that held the door closed was in my hands, I opened it easily and swung myself inside. I hadn't braced myself for impact and found not-so-gracefully falling onto my face. There were gasps all around me, and I looked up. More recruits, all around, were staring at me with wide looks on their faces. Someone was delivering a bottle of water to each of them. I reacted instantly to the attention.

Pulling my pistol out, I aimed it at one of the recruit's heads. This recruit, a boy, froze and went cross eyed as he looked at the barrel between his eyes.

"Anyone move without my permission and he gets killed!" I shouted. A day of dehydration, and I already had become desperate enough to hold people hostage. Whatever worked, I suppose.

Suddenly I heard someone say, "You're bluffing."

I pulled the trigger, and the girl next to him gasped as his blood went all over the seat and his body slumped to the floor. The pistol moved to her head. "Anyone else think I'm bluffing?" I asked around. Everyone was silent.

I had to get this over with before anyone else died. "Where's the person driving the train?" I asked the person carrying the bottled waters around. They pointed behind them. "You, come with me." I motioned the girl over. She reluctantly got up. I saw a sniper rifle next to her and was given a memory of Sniper on the plane. I eliminated the memory as soon as it came. Needed to focus.

Heading towards where the water provider had pointed, the girl walked in front of me with my gun to the back of her head. Her arms were raised in the air. We passed by other recruits, but they said nothing to us as we walked by.

"Why?" My hostage suddenly asked as we were walking. "Why did you kill Walter?"

I was surprised that she had the strength to actually talk to me. But I answered her anyway. "To prove a point. I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Her voice had gotten angrier. "If you were sorry you wouldn't have done it in the first place!"

"I'm not the bad guy here."

"That's what you think. You're a BLU. Whatever you think is right to you." I had nothing to say to that, and she kept going. "You don't have to do everything you're told. It may be a war, but you still have your true beliefs."

"Then why are you here? Why are you going to fight?" I asked her.

"Because I was going to escape. Go somewhere they'd never guess. I was going with Walter. But you ruined that, didn't you?"

I avoided her face and said nothing. It was as if someone had taken my guilty feelings and put it into this girl. Luckily I had arrived at the front of the train so I could focus on something else and approached the conductors.

"Stop this train." I said to one of them. They, surprised by my presence, were silent but did nothing. "Do it or I'll kill this girl." They nodded and started working at the controls. To the other one I said, "Show me to your food and water storages."

The storages appeared to be in the back of the train, and it wasn't good to walk past all of those recruits again. This time, instead of mostly frightened stares, some were glaring at me. They wouldn't dare try to attack, but I did feel a pang of intimidation and shame from it. But I kept walking, trying to ignore their stares.

When we finally reached the storages, I filled up my jacket with cans of foods and water bottles and slung it over my shoulder to hold it easier. I looked at the girl.

"This is all I wanted. I'm sorry about your friend."

"You murdered an innocent person and all you can say is sorry. If you really were sorry, you wouldn't have killed him in the first place."

I sighed, just wanting to get away from her. Like my conscience wasn't bad enough. I opened the stopped train and exited out, making sure to keep my gun out in case anyone got any ideas about following. Motioning with my hand for the train to move, I started to walk further away from the base. When it was finally past me towards its direction, I drank a whole bottle of water in one gulp and started to run.

The faster I got to my base, the faster I could run from my thoughts.

.-.

I finally ran out of food and water four days later, and that was when I started to see my first mirage. A silhouette of a building, far in the distance and faint red and blue lights flickering. But I was so hungry I couldn't think, and was somehow attracted to it. Almost like an insect to a trap, it would probably lead me to my death for leading me away from going to my own base, but I didn't care. I had already drunk my own piss, I was so desperate.

As I got closer to the building, I began to hear sounds now. I wasn't sure if mirages came with sounds, but it brought me a new hope somewhat. Maybe I was hallucinating from overheat. My mind tried to fight my decision, but it was so weak that it was nothing to me. The sounds began to develop in my head, sounds of guns firing and shouting. Even laughing.

My pace quickened at this sound, my dragging gait turning into hastened shuffling. There were people here. People that could help me. And, if they're out here firing guns instead of just trying to survive, they'd surely have supplies like food and water. When I was finally close enough to get to the border, I squinted my eyes and tried to see what was happening.

There was a RED control point and, defending it on all sides, were people defending it and Sentries choking the points. One of the Sentries spotted me and turned around to fire, but I ducked behind a building before it could see me. I needed to find the BLUs, my own team. Creeping along the side of the building, I found BLU Snipers and Soldiers firing from long distance their individual weapons at the Sentries.

I kept walking and saw more of the BLU's captured areas. Engineers had teleporters scattered around, mostly letting them get closer to the battlefield rather than their teammates. Their Sentries blocked points where the REDs couldn't access without being blown to pieces. Medics stood around, healing anyone that came by to build their Übercharges so they could soon attempt at capturing the control point. Pyros ran around blasting little puff of fire from their flamethrowers, Spy checking the area though there were probably none.

I finally reached another gate and began to climb it to get to the other side, where the BLUs captured land was being held. No Sentries beeped in my direction since I was wearing blue, but all three of them seemed to watch my every move. As I alighted on the ground, however, the attention of the BLUs were immediately brought my way. I raised my hands in peace as guns pointed my direction.

"Now what's a Spy doing here?" One of them, an Engineer, asked. "Our last Spy was killed just a week ago."

"I saw him sneaking to our base." A Sniper said. "But I didn't bother to tell you. He looks too weak to actually put up a fight."

"You shouldn't be so cocky. Especially as a Sniper. My brother got stabbed in the back by a Spy before." The Engineer replied. The Sniper shrugged and went back to his job.

"I say we burn him. Just in case." A Pyro said, her mask off to allow her to talk easier.

"Not until I get some information first. Now, why are you here?"

"I-" I realized how scratchy my voice was and coughed to clear it. "I was heading towards the BLU base."

"And where did you come from before that?"

"RED base." I only then realized how these questions weren't in my favor. Even I would think I was a RED Spy. "But," I objected, taking out the Intel I had gathered and handing it to the Engineer. "I came with this."

"What is this? Something you wrote as a decoy?" He said suspiciously, but glanced at it anyway. His manner changed as he read it.

"So can we burn him or not?" The Pyro asked.

"I suppose not. This could definitely be crafted." He showed her the Intel. "And this is definitely RED handiwork. For example, the REDs usually craft Spy knives and Pyro flamethrowers. We craft Spy watches and Pyro melee weapons. This provides a blueprint for some knife called the Eternal Reward and a flamethrower called the Degreaser."

The Pyro snatched up the Degreaser blueprints and began to look at it. "This looks like a pretty nice weapon." She said, amazed. Then she looked at me. "But I still don't trust him."

"Well, you can keep an eye on him if you'd like. We still have a battle going on, and I have Sentries to tend to. He also looks like he's gone through Hell and high water, so give him something to eat too." He also added, looking at my still half full water bottle filled with urine, "And most of that high water appears to be piss."

"So I have to watch him and feed him? I'm a Pyro, not a babysitter." She said to the Engineer.

"Then you watch him escape and possibly kill us. Have fun!" The Engineer said with a wave and walked away.

The Pyro glared at me. "Get up and start walking. I'll tell you where to go. And walk where I can see you."

I started to walk, and I was led back to a room that held what appeared to be a storage cabinet. As soon as the Pyro got near it, it opened automatically, perhaps by the same recognition as the Sentries to tell who was RED or BLU. Inside were medical supplies such as bandages and pills, for different kinds of injuries, food and water; and ammunition for every weapon for the classes. The Pyro grabbed a sandwich and a bottle of water and threw it to me. I was so surprised by the sudden toss that I almost didn't catch it.

The Pyro picked up a chocolate bar for herself and began to eat it. I did the same with my food. There was an awkward silence between us as we ate. The Pyro, I noticed, had her blonde hair cut only an inch or two longer than a boy's. Tired of the silence, I asked, "Why is your hair so short?"

"Pyros work with open flame. It isn't smart to have loose hair, and no one is going to see it with the mask on. So when I joined, they shaved or cut all the Pyro's hair. We didn't even get to put it in a ponytail or something. But why do you want to know?"

"Just curious." I muttered, and then finished the sandwich. "What's this place anyway? It seems like it's out in the middle of nowhere."

"It is." She replied. "When we found out the REDs had stationed a base all the way out here, we sent people out here. Nothing really good here though. We've been calling this place Dustbowl, because of the heat and the emptiness. But all these Sentries have kept us back from capturing the last point. They build more and more every day, from what the Scouts are telling us. We destroy some, but it's like a hydra. Destroy one, and two more grow in its place." She thought for a second. "Wait a second. You are a Spy, aren't you?"

"Thought you figured that out by now."

"Shut up." She snapped and continued to think. "You know how to use one of those, what is it? Sappers, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You can sap the Sentries. Kill their Engineers so they can't build anymore. And it'll take weeks for them to get reinforcements here. You can help us."

"I thought you said you didn't trust me."

"I didn't. And I still don't. But I'd rather we're not out here for months on end. BLU hasn't sent a Spy in a while, so we could use someone like you."

"Why should I help you?"

"Because you're stuck here as long as we are. And if I were you, you wouldn't want me watching you. I get a little trigger happy with spy checking."

"Fine. I just need some Sappers first."

She reached into the cabinet and brought a large handful of Sappers out for me. "We've got a little bit of everything. Head into the battlefield when you're ready and get rid of those Sentries. And if you run away, so help me, I will hunt you down until I can roast marshmallows off your corpse."

"Wouldn't want that, would I?" I said and took the Sappers. "I guess that's a deal then."

.-.

It was good to finally have a revolver in my hand. The handgun was familiar to me and almost comforting, even though I had only had it for a little while. I guess having the pistol for so long made me accept it. But all the other gadgets I had with me-disguise kit, cloak and dagger watch, Sappers-makes it seem to me as if I was carrying more than necessary. But unless I had a high power revolver quiet enough to not be seen and be able to shoot it from far away with ease, then the Sentries would not be easy picking.

And now that I had the cloak and dagger, I could sneak around them unseen instead of with a disguise and the worry of being suspected as a Spy. That could also survey what the Scouts hadn't already found out, even if I couldn't relay the information back to the other BLUs as they could. As for knives, I still had the Eternal Reward with me but also had the normal butterfly knife. It would be good to disguise as the person I killed, but if I was constantly disguising as the Engineers the others would expect something. But I would only use it if needed.

There was some suspicion sending a Spy that came out of nowhere be sent to the battlefield, but they were so desperate to get out that they accepted it. A Scout relayed all the information he and the other Scout had gathered.

"There are eight Sentries out there. Seven Engies. Two on the control point left and right, one below the point, one near the stairs hiding in a corner, two in the building beside the stairs, one right beside the building, and another right in front of the point." He was counting on his fingers as he said this. "There are currently one Medic, one Pyro, one Heavy, and no Spies, as far as we know. Hopefully there'll be less people out there if our Snipers ever learn to aim."

"You should shut your mouth before I put a bullet in your head." One Sniper muttered.

"Like you'll ever be able to hit my tiny little head." The Scout said proudly.

"Tiny 'cause there's nothing in there."

Sensing a conflict, the same Engineer from before broke them up. Then he talked to me. "Is that all you need for now?"

"Looks like it. Guess I'll be on my way."

"Don't get killed." The Engineer said before walking away, which I guess was his version of a good luck.

I nodded and started off into the battlefield, activating my cloak and dagger. The watch was sensitive to movement, so I had to walk very slowly and pause sometimes to make sure I wasn't seen by anyone. I kept the watch at my eyes to monitor the battery to see whenever it went down or up. If it got near one battery power or lower I would stop and recharge the battery until it reached at least five. Five would at least grant me a few steps before I would have to stop again.

It was almost irritating how much I had to stop to just move a few meters. But at least I didn't have to fake my death to actually activate the watch. A Pyro suddenly passed right in front of me and I froze in place, almost instinctively reaching for my knife. But it would be seen by the others, who were standing on the control point, and the Pyro was not that far from them. As soon as it passed, I ducked into the building it had just exited; the one with two Sentries in it.

There was only one Engineer in the building, walking back and forth in an almost pacing motion to check the Sentries for any damage. There were also two Dispensers and one teleporter. Her wrench was in his hand, ready to make repairs or crack a skull if someone got near her. I got my Eternal Reward out, ready to run out and stab her in the back once she turned her back on me. To make sure the Sentries didn't shoot me, I disguised the Engineer herself. They wouldn't know the difference if there were two Engineers, I hoped.

I deactivated the cloak as soon as the opportunity arose and hoped to run out and stab her, but I had forgotten one thing: the Cloak and Dagger make a noise once it was disabled. She turned around at the noise and swung the wrench in my direction. I dodged it, feeling the weight of it right in front of my nose. Keeping my knife out, I feigned it at her. She flinched and this was enough of her guard down to bury it into her arm. The effects of the knife worked as always, thankfully, and her body dissolved. Nothing happened to my disguise since I was already the Engineer.

The Sentries didn't even notice a change in the atmosphere. I got my Sappers out and attached them to every Engineer building except for the teleporter exit. The entrances were usually near the base where the control point and if the teleporters were suddenly deactivated or destroyed from the effect of the Sappers, they would get suspicious. Only the Sentries and the dispensers so it would be more difficult to get metal to build more Sentries in their place.

I escaped after it was but a second before the Sappers exploded, making sure I was gone from the scene and not be found. Hiding in a dark corner, I saw an Engineer rush inside and find the ruined scrap the Sentry had turned into. I pulled my knife out, hoping to take another Engineer out, but a Pyro suddenly ran in, flamethrower out and ready to spy check. If I went in there, then it would surely be the death of me, even if I killed both of them. The fire would burn me over time and it would make me visible to the other teammates.

I had to depend on my teammates to take down the two Pyros. Hopefully the BLU Scout was wrong and our Snipers could actually shoot well. But I couldn't care about that now. I needed to take care of the Sentries and their Engineers. The Pyro exited from the building, and I could see the Engineer building another Sentry. A Dispenser was already up. While I was thinking, he had already done all of that. I needed to focus.

A Sapper in one hand and the Eternal Reward in the other, I approached the Engineer from behind, deactivating the invisible watch out of his earshot. I plunged the knife into his back, and watched as I gained him as a new disguise. With another Sapper, the new Sentry was destroyed and I made my escape once more. Two down, for both the Sentries and Engineers.

I saw the Pyro come back to the building and, seeing the destruction of the now third Sentry, swore and spy checked again to find nothing. They went to each of the other Engineers and alerted them of a Spy's presence around. But while I watched, unmoving, the Pyro's head suddenly exploded into blood and brain matter. A headshot from the Snipers. The Engineers gasped, but did nothing. They could do nothing but hide and avoid the Snipers. I silently thanked them and continued to move. There were still other Sentries to take care of.

I observed a Heavy and Medic standing on the point, mostly immobile only to move when they saw a Sniper's laser dot point on their heads. They were easy targets, since they were facing their back to me and were so focused on defending the point that they likely wouldn't look behind them. But there was still the danger of the two Sentries with their Engineers standing beside them on the point. They would have to be taken out later, since it wouldn't be possible for the BLUs to get on the control point with them still on it.

A couple of rockets suddenly flew past me, heading towards the Sentry in front of the point. The Engineer hadn't been paying attention, and he watched as he and his Sentry were blown into smithereens. A BLU Engineer ran forward, taking this opportunity, to take shelter in the building the RED Engineers once housed. The Engineer set up a teleporter, and the other BLUs soon followed taking it. Now they had a closer view of the control point, and I could have some assistance taking the Sentries and Engineers out.

The Sentry near the building was still a threat, however. I saw the Snipers try to poke their heads out only to have rockets and bullets fired at them. Getting out the Eternal Reward, I came out from my hiding place and uncloaked at the bottom of the stairs. The Engineer, however, noticed me and moved in to attack. He must have been one of those warned about me before.

I swung my knife, but he never gave me an opportunity to stab him with it. He used his wrench with his left hand and soon brought out his pistol as well. I knew I couldn't dodge both of them at once so I brought out my revolver, hoping to take him out. When I fired, the bullet caught him in the right arm and suddenly beeping came to my attention. I turned on my Cloak and Dagger and took cover, reacting as bullets and rockets flew into the space I once stood.

The two Sentries returned to their positions, continuing their repetitive beeping. "Yeah, you better hide. Last time you'll want to mess with me." The Engineer said proudly, then sat on the stairs and held his bleeding wound. He started to build a Dispenser beside him to heal this and became so focused on it that he didn't see the spikey bombs stack near his feet. A terrific explosion went off; ultimately destroying him and the buildings he worked so hard to build.

Another Sentry went down from the Snipers, the one hiding in the corner, giving me safe passage to the control point. The REDs were almost, well, red with anger as they saw their defense crumble. Their Engineers didn't bother to build another Sentry, afraid to leave their current base of operations. I got up behind the control point, disguising as the Medic of the pair on the point. The Engineers saw me uncloak, but did nothing about it as I stabbed the Medic and then Heavy on the point, taking their disguise.

The BLUs then moved in for the kill. Our Medic activated his Übercharge on a Soldier and advanced forward, keeping the Sentries pinned on them. The Snipers got an easy shot on the Engineers and both of the Sentries were destroyed. No one else on the point, the BLUs captured the land and searched the bases for any survivors. I deactivated my disguise and saw my team celebrate their victory.

The BLU Pyro from before approached me. "Not bad for back stabbing scum." She said and walked away. Suppose that was a thank you.

I sat down on the stairs and sighed, tired from the day, but feeling almost glorious. We had beaten the REDs, driven them from their land, and it was a surging feeling of pride that I felt. And I was a valued member of this team. Perhaps I could do this Spy business.


End file.
